Pharma BD Deal Intelligence
Inverness Medical folded Thermo BioStar in for $52.5 million to bolt on rapid infectious-disease diagnostics, then shut the whole line down within three years—exiting the BioStar OIA product and its Colorado plant in 2008 with a $10.6 million impairment and restructuring charge.
A small, profitable bolt-on that Inverness folded in and then shut down within three years — the BioStar OIA line and its Colorado plant were exited in 2008 with a $10.6M impairment/restructuring charge, even as parent Inverness (later Alere) grew via dozens of other acquisitions before its own scandal-driven sale to Abbott in 2017.
Full analysis, sources & comparables →Covington Associates advised Inverness Medical Innovations on its acquisition of Thermo Electron's BioStar division, an advisor announcement framing the…
LabMedica framed the BioStar deal as part of an Inverness roll-up of POC diagnostics — paired with the ~$11.8M Innogenetics Diagnostica purchase — building…
Deals roundup notes Inverness closes its BioStar buy, neutral trade-press confirmation that the rapid-diagnostics acquisition completed as announced.
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Inverness acquires Thermo BioStar from Thermo Electron for ~$52.5M; rapid diagnostics for infectious disease.
A small, profitable bolt-on that Inverness folded in and then shut down within three years — the BioStar OIA line and its Colorado plant were exited in 2008 with a $10.6M impairment/restructuring charge, even as parent Inverness (later Alere) grew via dozens of other acquisitions before its own scandal-driven sale to Abbott in 2017.
Assessment window: 15yr post-close.
Acute respiratory infections (Group A Streptococcus pharyngitis, influenza A/B, RSV) drive tens of millions of US physician-office and urgent-care visits annually. Rapid point-of-care immunoassays let clinicians triage antibiotic vs. antiviral therapy during the visit, replacing 1-2 day reference-lab cultures and improving stewardship.
Thermo BioStar's Optical Immunoassay (OIA) platform — used in rapid Strep A, influenza A/B and RSV tests — competed in the mid-2000s rapid-diagnostics POC market against Quidel's QuickVue lateral-flow line, Becton Dickinson's BD Directigen series, Inverness's own Acceava/Clearview brands, and Beckman Coulter/Binax (later acquired by Inverness in 2005). Inverness's $52.5M cash purchase from Thermo Electron consolidated overlapping infectious-disease franchises and — critically — added what CEO Ron Zwanziger called 'one of the industry's leading direct sales teams of approximately 55 FTE sales people' covering physician offices and hospitals. The deal mattered as a sales-channel play more than a technology play: Inverness telegraphed it would use the BioStar reps to launch its prothrombin (cardiac) POC test in 2006, evidencing a roll-up strategy that included Innogenetics Diagnostica (~$11.8M) the same quarter. Inverness ultimately closed the BioStar Louisville, CO facility a few years later as it integrated the franchise into the broader Alere POC business.
| Deal | Year | Value | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inverness Medical Innovations Inc. / Thermo BioStar, Inc. (this deal) | 2005 | $52M | 31 |
| Inverness Medical Innovations Inc. / Abbott Laboratories Rapid Diagnostics (pregnancy / drug-of-abuse lines) | 2003 | $92M | 71 |
| Inverness Medical Innovations Inc. / Innogenetics Diagnostica y Terapeutica S.A. (IDT) | 2005 | $19M | 45 |
| Inverness Medical Innovations Inc. / Ischemia Technologies Inc. | 2004 | $22M | 33 |
| Inverness Medical Innovations Inc. / Binax Inc. | 2004 | — | — |
| AstraZeneca PLC / KuDOS Pharmaceuticals Limited | 2005 | $210M | 98 |
| Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical / Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. | 2005 | — | 92 |