Recently, GE Healthcare announced that it will acquire the remaining 50% stake in Nihon Medi Physics (NMP) from Sumitomo Chemical, achieving full takeover of NMP. The transaction is expected to be completed in early 2025, subject to regulatory approval. According to Sumitomo Chemical's announcement, this transaction is expected to bring approximately 30 billion yen (approximately 1.455 billion yuan) in revenue growth.

Master of Nuclear Medicine Acquisition
NMP was founded in 1973, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, initially as a joint venture between British life sciences company Amersham and Sumitomo Chemical. Since its establishment, NMP has been committed to providing a range of radiopharmaceuticals as diagnostic agents, enabling doctors to observe the function of internal organs in the human body through imaging technology and detect the presence and progression of diseases.

Nowadays, NMP has strong capabilities in molecular imaging programs such as single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET), which are important tools for diagnosing and monitoring disease states, especially in the fields of oncology, cardiology, and neurology.

At present, NMP's main products include VIZAMYL for Alzheimer's disease detection ® Injection (Fluchlorofluoride Injection); DaTSCAN for evaluating suspected Parkinson's disease or Lewy body dementia patients ® Injection (iodine-123 injection); MYOVIEW for myocardial perfusion imaging of coronary artery disease ® (Technetium-99m Arrowroot Glycoside).

It is reported that NMP has 13 production factories and holds a 70% market share in the Japanese diagnostic nuclear medicine market. Among them, SPECT diagnostic medicine has a market share of about 60% and PET diagnostic medicine has a market share of nearly 100%. Based on the strong strength of NMP, the company's performance in 2023 is also impressive, with a revenue of approximately 183 million US dollars (equivalent to approximately 1.334 billion yuan).

The "fate" between GE Healthcare and NMP began in 2004, when GE Healthcare acquired Amersham to hold a 50% stake in NMP and held three seats on the board of directors. Now, GE Healthcare has acquired the remaining 50% stake and hopes to launch more innovative products through this wholly-owned acquisition to meet the needs of patients around the world.

The development of nuclear medicine is accelerating
Based on a century of accumulation in the field of molecular imaging, GE Healthcare, as the only enterprise in the industry with a complete product line of nuclear medicine molecular imaging, has created the ONE MI nuclear medicine precision medical ecological solution, which can provide an ecological loop covering nuclide production, drug synthesis, image acquisition, data processing to precise diagnosis and quantitative evaluation, providing precise diagnosis and treatment solutions for Alzheimer's disease, prostate cancer, and cardiovascular disease.

And GE Healthcare has also contributed multiple firsts in molecular probes ("nuclear drugs"): the world's first cyclotron; The first use of PET drugs for amyloid protein color imaging in the brain to evaluate Alzheimer's disease (AD); The first SPECT tracer launched in Europe and America for detecting the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the brain of Parkinson's syndrome and dementia.
Since entering 2021, GE Healthcare's development in the field of nuclear medicine seems to have pressed the accelerator button and is exceptionally active.

In March 2021, GE Healthcare released the StarGuide next-generation SPECT/CT system, which uses the latest digital technology to help clinicians improve treatment outcomes in bone surgery, cardiology, neurology, oncology, and other medical specialties. Its cutting-edge 12CZT digital focus detector can not only scan patients in 3D, but also optimize targeted radionuclide therapy programs - imaging multiple tracers simultaneously in a single scan, combining treatment and diagnosis to monitor disease development.

In May 2021, GE Healthcare announced the acquisition of Zionexa to develop and market Zionexa's in vivo biomarkers, and promote the commercialization of its PET imaging agent Cerianna (fluoroestradiol F-18), which has been approved by FDA, to be used as an auxiliary means of biopsy, detect estrogen receptor positive lesions, and provide information for treatment choices of patients with recurrent or metastatic breast cancer.

In addition to acquiring NMP in 2024, GE Healthcare also signed a strategic cooperation memorandum with Novartis China at the 7th CIIE this year. The two sides will focus on the innovative development of radioligand imaging and radioligand therapy, jointly build a nuclear medicine precision medicine ecosystem of molecular imaging and radioligand therapy drugs, and promote scientific research innovation and clinical application of precision diagnosis and treatment integration for serious diseases such as cancer.

And GE Healthcare also showcased a "black technology" at the CIIE - PET/CT Max Apollo. This device is an advanced nuclear medicine molecular imaging equipment, and its new integrated ecological solution for Alzheimer's disease, centered around it, has been globally launched. Combining GE Medical's patented technology, a one click A β amyloid plaque imaging solution is implemented. By injecting radioactive diagnostic drugs, PET/CT brain scans, and comparing and analyzing with a built-in standardized database, intuitive reports can be generated with one click, which can detect possible lesions 10-15 years in advance and provide strong support for early diagnosis of cardiac nuclear medicine diseases.

In addition, GE Healthcare has made a revolutionary move in 2024, which is also the first innovation in the GE Healthcare division in a decade.

In July, GE Healthcare underwent a series of departmental restructuring and high-level reshuffles: Roland Rott was appointed as the President and CEO of Imaging Business; Phil Rackliffe is the President and CEO of the newly merged Ultrasound and Image Guided Therapy (IGT) business; And merge the IGT department, which was originally an important sub business of imaging, with the ultrasound department to form a global business with an annual revenue of over 5 billion US dollars.

Source: https://news.yaozh.com/archive/44655.html