Biomérieux makes a Specific choice

At around $426m, the acquisition of Specific Diagnostics by Biomérieux today is the fourth-largest medtech deal of the year, underlining how slow 2022 has been for M&A activity in the device arena. Biomérieux, which has held a stake in Specific Diagnostics since 2019, paid a price equivalent to 3.3% of its market cap for Specific; the French group was worth €11.9bn ($12.9bn) at the close yesterday. Specific makes tests including Specific Reveal, a blood culture assay that can tell whether an infection with a Gram-negative bacterium is resistant to antibiotics, and yields a result in five hours. As antimicrobial resistance grows, this kind of assay will become increasingly important. Still, Biomérieux’s shareholders sent the company’s Paris-listed stock down 6% today – probably because of the issuance of new equity, as well as the generally nightmarish climate on the public markets. The deal might have readthrough to Q-Linea, which makes a similar test called ASTar and also has a partnership with a much larger diagnostics group, in this case Thermo Fisher.