Hologic to sell Fischer biopsy assets to Siemens

Jul 6, 2006

Women's imaging vendor Hologic of Bedford, MA, has signed a consent order with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to sell the breast biopsy assets it recently acquired from Fischer Imaging. Hologic has agreed to sell the assets to the parent company of Siemens Medical Solutions of Malvern, PA, as part of the consent order.

Hologic in September 2005 purchased Fischer's women's health assets, including intellectual property related to Fischer's MammoTest stereotactic breast biopsy system. In filing its complaint against the deal, the FTC claimed that the acquisition gave Hologic a "virtual monopoly" in the U.S. for stereotactic breast biopsy systems. The only other company marketing such systems in the U.S. is Giotto USA, and it has recorded "only minimal sales" in three years on the market, the FTC said.

Hologic agreed to settle the complaint by agreeing to sell all of the intellectual property related to MammoTest to Siemens AG for a cash payment of $6.5 million. Hologic will retain a royalty-free, nonexclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide right and license to use the intellectual property relating to the MammoTest system. The consent order does not include the SenoScan full-field digital mammography system that Hologic also acquired in purchasing Fischer.

Separately, Hologic reported that the FTC had closed its investigation into its pending acquisition of Suros Surgical Systems, another breast biopsy firm. Hologic said the agency had cleared the company to purchase Suros, subject to customary closing conditions, including Suros stockholder approval.

Hologic chairman and CEO Jack Cumming said the consent order was a positive move for the company that will enable it to move forward on the Suros acquisition.

Hologic had never intended to sell the MammoTest table in its current form, and instead was planning to take the best attributes from MammoTest and Hologic's MultiCare table and merge them into a new product to be sold in the future. Hologic retains rights to do so under the consent order, he said.

Cumming added that Hologic was pleased that the MammoTest intellectual property was going to Siemens. "Siemens has been a long-term ally of ours and a partner in other arrangements," Cumming said. "We've always enjoyed that relationship. We feel we've put the intellectual property in good hands."

By Brian Casey
AuntMinnie.com staff writer
July 7, 2006

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