ICU Medical announced recently that that they had completed the acquisition of the Smiths Medical Division from Smiths Group Plc. A new report from Signify Research looked at the two companies and assessed the combination of product portfolios from both how it will enable the company to expand its offering not only within the infusion market but also across other clinical care markets.
The report says that developing a broader product offering to enable more comprehensive purchases across the care continuum has been one of the drivers of several other recent acquisitions and was a key element in this deal. Movement toward value-based care has resulted in healthcare purchasers assessing the complete offering each company is able to make, in addition to their return on investment.
Digital solutions have become increasingly important to help record and monitor real-time patient data. This has also driven the need for interoperable solutions that can communicate with other devices in addition to electronic health records, both in the hospital and the home. By developing a stronger product offering across clinical markets vendors can support a wider number of clinical practices and support streamlining not only purchasing processes, but also clinical workflow.
The two companies are also likely to not only assess their infusion operations, but their wider offerings in the patient monitoring and information systems markets. Movement toward digital solutions has created opportunities for vendors to further enhance clinical practice with newer advanced solutions and supporting services.
Similar movements have been made within the infusion, patient monitor, cardiology, and respiratory markets, where acquisitions have been made to enhance and increase the clinical offering from the purchasing company.
Signify has discussed several of these in recent insights and is taking note of their impact on the market positioning of these players in upcoming market intelligence reports.
Some of those discussed include:·
- Baxter Healthcare’s acquisition of Hillrom (who had acquired several companies prior to its acquisition) Nihon Kohden’s acquisition of AMP3D
- Philips acquisitions of Cardiologs and Biotelemetry (and Capsule Technologies)
- Getinge’s acquisition of Talis Clinical LLC
The acquisition aims to support the expansion of ICU Medical’s infusion therapy product line and expand the portfolio into newer clinical care markets. ICU Medical has been increasing its global share of the infusion pump market for several years. Its acquisition of Hospira’s critical care business in 2017 enabled it to gain a strong foothold in the large-volume infusion pump market and boost its presence both in the US and internationally. Its broader offering in monitoring and oncology has also enabled it to expand its reach into wider clinical markets.
