Recently, according to the Financial Times, Siemens Healthineers plans to acquire the diagnostic business of Advanced Accelerator Applications (AAA), a subsidiary of Novartis, for 200 million euros (approximately 1.593 billion yuan). AAA specializes in producing radioactive nuclide drugs, also known as nuclear drugs, for molecular imaging equipment PET (positron emission tomography). The transaction is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter.

Expand business territory
AAA was spun off from the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in 2002 and is an innovative radiopharmaceutical company focused on targeted radioligand therapy, precise radioligand imaging, and molecular imaging product development. Its main focus is on the development, production, and commercial application of Molecular Nuclear Medicine (MNM) products. On October 30, 2017, Novartis acquired the company for $3.9 billion to strengthen its radiopharmaceutical business capabilities, making AAA a subsidiary of Novartis.

After years of development, AAA has built a pipeline covering various diagnostic and therapeutic drugs through independent research and acquisition. Nowadays, AAA has over 15 years of manufacturing and commercializing a portfolio of PET and SPECT nuclear medicine imaging products, which are suitable for many indications in oncology, neurology, cardiology, as well as infectious and inflammatory diseases. At present, AAA mainly sells two types of targeted radioligand therapy products, as well as several precision imaging products mainly used in clinical oncology, cardiology, neurology, and infectious/inflammatory diseases. The acquisition of AAA diagnostic business by Siemens Healthineers this time will ensure Siemens Healthineers' key raw material supply in the field of PET imaging equipment, and is also a major measure to expand Siemens Healthineers' PET radioactive diagnostic drug business from the United States to the European market.

PET is a medical imaging device that plays an important role in tumor diagnosis and treatment, and radiopharmaceuticals are an indispensable part of PET scanning. After entering the human body, this drug can be absorbed by metabolically active cells similar to tumor cells, thus creating high brightness areas on PET images that help doctors detect and locate tumors.

Radiopharmaceuticals are divided into diagnostic and therapeutic drugs. Among them, the radiation diagnostic drugs used in conjunction with molecular imaging equipment such as PET have a shorter half-life and require rapid completion of the production to scanning process, usually requiring same day production and use, which also increases medication costs and complexity. In addition, as part of the deal with Siemens Healthineers, Novartis will collaborate with Siemens Healthineers to increase the supply of nuclear isotopes for the production of radiopharmaceuticals such as Lutathera.

Continuous growth in multiple business sectors
On July 31st, Siemens Healthineers released its third quarter performance report for the year ended June 30th, 2024. Siemens Healthineers' fiscal year for the first half of 2024 is from October 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024. According to its financial report, its third quarter revenue was 5.423 billion euros (approximately 43.193 billion yuan), a year-on-year increase of 4.3%. The quarterly adjusted EBIT profit was 825 million euros, and the quarterly net profit was 472 million euros.

Looking at it by section, Siemens Healthineers' performance in the third quarter was also very impressive:
 Imaging diagnostic business: Compared with the strong performance of the same period last year, comparable revenue increased by 3.8%, and adjusted pre tax profit margin was 20.0%;
 Clinical treatment business: Compared with the strong performance of the same period last year, comparable revenue increased by 0.4%, and adjusted pre tax profit margin was 13.9%;
 In vitro diagnostics: Comparable revenue growth of 2.1%; The adjusted pre tax profit margin is 7.4%, significantly higher than the same period last year;
 Varian: Comparable revenue increased by 9.6%, with an adjusted pre tax profit margin of 6.6%, significantly higher than the same period last year.

In addition, in mid-2024, Siemens Healthineers also reported several heavyweight products: the IntelliBlate microwave ablation system obtained FDA 510 (k) approval; The all-new 7T magnetic resonance imaging has entered the special review process for innovative medical devices; In vitro diagnostic reagents have obtained CE approval; The Biograph Trinion PET/CT scanner has been approved by the FDA.

Among them, Siemens Healthineers' approved in vitro diagnostic reagents can measure the amount of neurofilament light chain proteins found in serum and plasma, which are released into the bloodstream when brain neurons are attacked. When combined with MRI brain scans and other clinical laboratory tests, it aims to predict whether the risk of MS disease activity in adult patients will be high or low in the next two years.

The detector of the FDA approved Biograph Trinion PET/CT scanner is based on lutetium orthosilicate (LSO) crystal elements, which can achieve high spatial resolution and ultra fast flight time performance of only 239 picoseconds, further improving scanning speed and reducing patient radiation dose. In addition, the Biograph Trinion is equipped with a new air-cooled digital detector, which is easier to install compared to the cooling device required for water-cooled PET/CT scanners.

Source: https://news.yaozh.com/archive/44105.html