GE HealthCare to fully own Nihon Medi-Physics

GE HealthCare (Nasdaq:GEHC) announced today that it will acquire the remaining 50% stake in Nihon Medi-Physics, enabling it to fully own the Japanese radiopharmaceutical company.

The purchase from Sumitomo Chemical is expected to close in early 2025, subject to regulatory approvals. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. GE HealthCare has already owned a 50% stake in NMP since acquiring Amersham in 2004

“By fully owning NMP, already a leader in Japan, we will enhance patient access to next-generation radiopharmaceuticals that enable detection and diagnosis of disease, and position NMP to become partner of choice for global innovators looking to bring novel radiopharmaceuticals to Japan and other Asian markets,” GE HealthCare CEO Peter J Arduini said in a LinkedIn post.

“Simply put, we are strengthening our ability to deliver generic and proprietary molecules to providers to diagnose a variety of diseases — from Alzheimer’s to Parkinson’s disease — and deliver precision care to more patients. As the only medtech company with molecular imaging equipment and radiopharmaceuticals, this investment strengthens our ability to serve our customers and patients and deliver on our precision care strategy.”

Tokyo-based Nihon Medi-Physics has about $183 million in annual revenue and 13 manufacturing facilities. Its portfolio includes GE HealthCare radiopharmaceuticals used to enable clinical images across neurology, cardiology and oncology procedures. The products include:

• The amyloid visualization radiotracer Vizamyl injection (flutemetamol (18F) injection), used in the Alzheimer’s pathway;
• Datscan injection (Ioflupane (¹²³I) injection), used to evaluate patients with suspected Parkinson’s disease or dementia with Lewy Bodies;
• And Myoview (Technetium (99mTc) Tetrofosmin), used in SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging to evaluate known or suspected coronary artery disease.

“As the third largest pharmaceutical market in the world, and amongst the leading countries by number of cyclotrons, Japan is on a path to becoming a leader in the $7 billion molecular imaging global market and a center of excellence for Asian markets,” said Kevin O’Neill, president and CEO of GE HealthCare’s Pharmaceutical Diagnostics (PDx) segment.

“NMP will play a key role in that journey, including bringing its deep expertise and scale to global innovators looking to bring novel products to the Japan market and beyond. This will strengthen our precision care strategy in Asia and our existing footprint in Japan, where our contrast media and medical devices are used every day to enable imaging procedures across the country.”

GE HealthCare says its PDx segment imaging agents support over 120 million patient procedures annually worldwide.