Johnson & Johnson acquires Swedish in vitro diagnostic technology company Amic

19 June 2008

Johnson & Johnson Nordic AB, a Johnson & Johnson company, has acquired Amic, a privately held Swedish developer of in vitro diagnostic (IVD) technologies for use in point-of-care (POC) and near-patient settings (outside the physical facilities of the clinical laboratory).

The acquisition will provide Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company, with access to a high performance technology platform (currently in development) that complements its clinical laboratory, immunohematology and donor screening businesses.

As a result of the acquisition, Johnson & Johnson expects to incur an estimated one-time after-tax charge of approximately $40 million during the second quarter of 2008 related to the expensing of in-process research and development. Other terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Amic is developing technology that uses a chip-based micro-fluidic platform to enable fully quantitative, immunoassay tests in POC or near-patient settings. This next-generation technology represents an advance in an area of diagnostics where double-digit market growth is anticipated.

"This acquisition is a strategic opportunity to develop a point-of-care channel," said Mark Straley, Worldwide Commercial President, Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc. "We're committed to bringing novel assays and existing tests closer to the patient and delivering information to health care professionals when and where they need it."

"We're excited about the possibilities of touching the lives of patients by combining our testing technologies with current and future assays of ortho-clinical diagnostics," said Ove Ohman, founder and CEO, Amic.