Over a year in the making, Fujifilm's acquisition of Hitachi's diagnostic imaging business has finally been completed. The firm's new wholly owned subsidiary has begun operations as Fujifilm Healthcare.
With the purchase, Fujifilm has added Hitachi's CT, MRI, and ultrasound offerings to its portfolio, complementing its own digital radiography, PACS, point-of-care ultrasound, endoscopy, and in vitro diagnostics technologies. Fujifilm also noted that these new products will be combined with its image processing and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in the future.
The deal, which was initially valued at 179 billion yen ($1.618 billion) when announced in December 2019, had been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a related development, Fujifilm Holdings also announced a company-wide reorganization that included the separation of its healthcare business into two divisions: Medical System and Life Sciences. The Medical System division would consist mainly of medical devices for diagnoses, according to the vendor.
Meanwhile, Fujifilm's new Life Sciences division will itself include four divisions:
- Bio CDMO
- A new Life Sciences Business that integrates the company's iPS cell, cell culture media, and reagent portfolio
- Pharmaceutical Products division
- Consumer Healthcare (cosmetics and supplements)
