Pharma BD Deal Intelligence

Abbott Laboratories / Alere Inc.

2016 · Acquisition/Merger · $5.8B · Complete

WRONG BY 70 POINTS

A deal Abbott tried to walk away from became its single most valuable acquisition ever, thanks to the Alere/Binax rapid-testing platform's COVID-19 windfall — though it also imported hundreds of millions in legacy fraud liabilities and a bungled 2021 supply-chain reversal.

Full analysis, sources & comparables →
Top 5 most underrated deals we track

Ranks computed across 828 graded deals (Critic + Outcome Score both present).

The coverage arc

Feb 02, 2016 GenomeWeb (citing Barclays' Jack Meehan and Frost & Sullivan's Divyaa Ravishankar) Bullish

Barclays analyst Jack Meehan said remaining POC players 'carry scarcity value for strategics looking to make inroads,' and Frost & Sullivan's Divyaa…

Sep 29, 2017 Crain's Chicago Business Bearish

Crain's framed deal closing as a partial win for Abbott but highlighted that Alere's sales-practice and false-claim issues would continue to drag on…

Aug 24, 2022 FierceBiotech Bearish

DOJ joining a 5-year-old false-claim and kickback suit against the Alere business validated Abbott's original 'substantial loss in value' complaint and…

Source summaries from our enrichment pipeline; follow links for originals.

All 5 sources with sentiment breakdown →

Abbott agreed to acquire Alere for $56/share, ~$5.8B equity value, to become global leader in point-of-care diagnostics. Alere had $2.5B annual sales in infectious disease, molecular, cardiometabolic, and toxicology testing. Combined diagnostics business projected >$7B in sales. Deal later renegotiated to $51/share (~$5.3B); closed October 2017 after litigation.

Did it work? Outcome assessment

A deal Abbott tried to walk away from became its single most valuable acquisition ever, thanks to the Alere/Binax rapid-testing platform's COVID-19 windfall — though it also imported hundreds of millions in legacy fraud liabilities and a bungled 2021 supply-chain reversal.

Strategic verdict
Achieved Stated Rationale
Financial impact
Accretive
Pipeline outcome
Assets Advanced

Key facts

Related deals — scored

DealYearValueOutcome
Abbott Laboratories / Alere Inc. (this deal)2016$5.8B95
Abbott Laboratories / Knoll Pharmaceutical Company (BASF Pharma)2001$6.9B100
Abbott Laboratories / Knoll Pharmaceuticals (BASF Pharma)2000$6.9B95
Abbott Laboratories / St. Jude Medical2016$30.5B82
Abbott Laboratories / TheraSense Inc.2004$1.2B81
Abbott Laboratories / Vysis Inc.2001$355M79
Abbott Laboratories / Genentech, Inc. (Roche Group)200779

Compare all 7 side-by-side →

See the full interactive analysis, sources & comparables →