Biomarker Diagnostics: Place Your Bets Wisely
Executive Summary
Biomarker diagnostics are the linchpin of personalized medicine. But building a successful business around such tests is anything but straightforward, given the complexities associated with both their development and commercialization. Today's molecular diagnostic companies need to think carefully before they choose a "go it alone" strategy when developing a particular test. It may make more sense to forge a partnership with another diagnostic company or a drug developer with the goal of sharing costs and relative risks.
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Medical Device and In Vitro Diagnostics/Research Deal Statistics Quarterly, Q1 2009
Highlights from the Q1 2009 review of medical device and in vitro diagnostics/research dealmaking. Device financing activity remained down bringing in only $522 million--the majority invested through VCs, mostly via late-stage venture rounds--not much change from the previous quarter, but a significant drop from Q1 2008, which saw $920 million. Device M&A brought in $4.4 billion, double the previous quarter, but most of Q1's money came from Abbott's $2.86 billion purchase of Advanced Medical Optics. Four other transactions topped the $200 million mark, including three deals by device giant Medtronic, which grabbed cardio companies CoreValve, Ventor Technologies, and Ablation Frontiers. There was also a decline in in vitro diagnostics and research fund-raising with 2009's opening quarter only seeing about half the dollars of Q4 2008.
Medical Device and In Vitro Diagnostics/Research Deal Statistics Quarterly, Q1 2009
Highlights from the Q1 2009 review of medical device and in vitro diagnostics/research dealmaking. Device financing activity remained down bringing in only $522 million--the majority invested through VCs, mostly via late-stage venture rounds--not much change from the previous quarter, but a significant drop from Q1 2008, which saw $920 million. Device M&A brought in $4.4 billion, double the previous quarter, but most of Q1's money came from Abbott's $2.86 billion purchase of Advanced Medical Optics. Four other transactions topped the $200 million mark, including three deals by device giant Medtronic, which grabbed cardio companies CoreValve, Ventor Technologies, and Ablation Frontiers. There was also a decline in in vitro diagnostics and research fund-raising with 2009's opening quarter only seeing about half the dollars of Q4 2008.
How to Earn the Economic Payback Diagnostics Companies Deserve
For most diagnostics companies, the prospect of premium pricing has been an elusive dream. The health care landscape is peppered with expensive novel drugs priced to underscore their clinical impact on patient care. A similar strategy for pricing novel diagnostics with significant clinical impact makes sense, especially since many of them are driving the decisions to deploy novel drugs in the first place. Now, strong system economics arguments are becoming more mainstream and payors are beginning to reward companies with reimbursement of their premium priced tests, based upon rigorous clinical arguments supporting the diagnostics' benefits to clinical decision-making and compelling economic arguments customized to each major payer.