Roche acquires PVT to strengthen laboratory automation in clinical diagnostics

Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) announced today the acquisition of PVT Probenverteiltechnik GmbH based in Waiblingen, Germany and of PVT Lab Systems, LLC based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. PVT is a global market leader in providing customised automation and workflow solutions for in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) testing in large commercial and hospital laboratories. Under the terms of the agreement, Roche will pay PVT shareholders an upfront payment of EUR 65 million as well as up to EUR 20 million upon reaching performance-related milestones. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions. PVT will become one of the competence centers inside Roche for the development and manufacturing of automation products.

The acquisition will expand Roche’s global access to PVT’s product portfolio for automation of pre- and post-analytical tasks such as centrifuging, pipetting, sorting and archiving across a large variety of sample formats. Through optimized work processes, improved turn-around-times as well as increased quality and security of sample handling, PVT’s products enable clinical laboratories to reliably manage low to very high sample volumes and to arrange their lab space with great flexibility.

“Increasing laboratory consolidation leading to testing volumes of tens of thousands samples per day demand an ever-higher degree of automation,” said Daniel O’Day, COO of Roche Diagnostics. “With PVT’s technology we will be able to deliver integrated and highly-efficient automation solutions to meet the evolving needs of our customers and further strengthen our leading position in the clinical diagnostics market.”

The newly acquired automation capabilities will strengthen Roche’s growth and competitive advantage in the laboratory core business, which had an estimated market size of USD 15.3 billion in 2009. By combining its integrated, modular and highly efficient analyzers, like the cobas 6000 analyzer for medium-sized labs or the cobas 8000 analyzer for large-volume labs, either with the MODULAR PRE-ANALYTICS (MPA) systems or with PVT’s front- and back-end automation solutions, Roche is able to customise its offer for all different types and sizes of clinical laboratories.

PVT and Roche have had a close partnership for over fifteen years, under which Roche has been distributing PVT products, such as the RSA Pro and the RSD Pro system, in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

“Our trusted and long-term collaboration has been key in our growing success,” said Michael Ziegler, CEO and co-founder of PVT. “Roche is the ideal company to deliver the next generation of laboratory automation systems. We’re very committed to the continued success and support of PVT’s employees, products and pipeline.”

“We will further develop customized automation solutions that complement and enhance our entire laboratory analytics instrument portfolio, which we expect will boost sales across our entire core business,” stated Colin Brown, Head of Roche Professional Diagnostics. “With this acquisition, we gain a very talented group of people with strong expertise and domain knowledge, which we expect to be instrumental in meeting our customers’ demands.”
About PVT

PVT GmbH, a leading provider of task-targeted laboratory automation, is based in Waiblingen, Germany with facilities in nearby Aldingen. PVT LLC is PVT GmbH’s US distribution company based in Atlanta, Georgia and driving the US sales operations. PVT and Roche have been collaborating for over fifteen years with Roche distributing PVT’s products in numerous countries.

PVT is one of the pioneers in the automation of clinical laboratories, where increasingly automated workflow solutions are used to achieve higher productivity, speed up turn-around times, save costs and improve the quality of results. PVT will be part of Roche’s Professional Diagnostics organization and will provide solutions and competencies in other areas within Roche Diagnostics.
About Roche Professional Diagnostics

Roche Professional Diagnostics commercialises integrated, modular and highly-efficient testing solutions for clinical and immuno in-vitro diagnostics for centralised and decentralised settings. Products include systems, services, IT solutions as well as reagents covering a comprehensive spectrum of indications. In the area of sample workflow, Roche offers stand-alone automation products from PVT, as well as the MODULAR Pre-analytics (MPA) systems manufactured by Hitachi High-Technologies (HHT), which can be directly connected to cobas modular platform analyzers and other large analyzers. Roche is committed to provide both solutions to its customers and to its continued alliance with Hitachi High-Technologies. For more information: www.cobas.com
About Roche

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is a leader in research-focused healthcare with combined strengths in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. Roche is the world’s largest biotech company with truly differentiated medicines in oncology, virology, inflammation, metabolism and CNS. Roche is also the world leader in in-vitro diagnostics, tissue-based cancer diagnostics and a pioneer in diabetes management. Roche’s personalised healthcare strategy aims at providing medicines and diagnostic tools that enable tangible improvements in the health, quality of life and survival of patients. In 2010, Roche had over 80’000 employees worldwide and invested over 9 billion Swiss francs in R&D. The Group posted sales of 47.5 billion Swiss francs. Genentech, United States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche has a majority stake in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan. For more information: www.roche.com.

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