Siemens Healthineers, the healthcare arm of German technology giant Siemens, has agreed to acquire Epocal from Alere for an undisclosed price to expand its blood gas portfolio.

The Alere subsidiary develops and manufactures point-of-care blood diagnostic systems for healthcare organizations.

One of its products is the epoc Blood Analysis System which is a handheld, wireless testing solution that delivers blood gas, electrolyte and metabolite results near the patient in about 30 seconds after introduction of the sample.

The epoc Blood Analysis System is made up of a room-temperature stable BGEM test card, a reader and a host2 mobile computer.

Each epoc BGEM test card, which is developed for single-use, is equipped with smartcard technology and comes with a full menu of tests.

According to Siemens Healthineers Point of Care Diagnostics president Peter Koerte, the acquisition of the epoc product range will help the company to offer the right solution in the right setting, all from one partner.

Koerte added: “The epoc product line will seamlessly integrate with our digital ecosystem offering customers the broadest solution available in the market.

“The acquisition complements our existing offerings in the point of care diagnostics space, with a view to provide customers globally with a full range of blood gas solutions.”

The transaction is subject to the completion of Alere’s acquisition by Abbott along with receipts of antitrust approvals and meeting of other customary closing conditions.

In February 2016, Abbott had agreed to acquire Alere, a global player in the point of care diagnostics sector, for a price of $5.8bn. In January, the European Commission had conditionally approved the acquisition provided that Alere divested Epoc among other businesses.

Subsequently, in April, Alere had agreed to be acquired for a lowered price of $5.3bn from Abbott with the transaction expected to be closed in the third quarter subject to certain approvals and conditions.

Image: epoc Blood Analysis System (Blood gases, electrolytes and metabolites). Photo: courtesy of Alere.