CardioNet has announced plans to acquire Biotel in a definitive merger agreement for $11 million in cash, which includes a settlement agreement to dismiss the lawsuit between them. CardioNet had previously announced plans to acquire Biotel but cancelled the plans three days after the CMS contractor that reimbursed for its services dropped the reimbursement rate by almost one third. Interestingly, and perhaps coincidentally, CardioNet is now re-announcing the Biotel acquisition less than a week after CMS announced a national reimbursement rate for CardioNet's services. Seems to be a rather tidy on-again-off-again series of events, doesn't it?
CardioNet also announced plans to partner with another wireless-enabled health company, MedApps, to form a "strategic alliance" to "deploy new and innovative wireless monitoring solutions that benefit patients in a cost-effective, meaningful manner." While the official terms of the deal have not been announced yet, we wonder if this is the lead up to an acquisition. After all, CardioNet has made it clear in the past that chronic condition management was a likely next step for the company, which is currently focused on diagnosing and monitoring cardiac arrhythmias.
The Biotel acquisition brings the company's Braemar subsidiary’s wireless event monitor under the CardioNet umbrella and also sets CardioNet up to enter the clinical services market through Biotel's Agility Centralized Research Services, which provides event, Holter and twelve-lead ECG monitoring services to the medical device, pharmaceutical, contract research, and academic research organizations.
Here's how MedApps’ CEO Kent Dicks described his company's deal with CardioNet in the official press release: “This is an opportunity to forge an exciting collaboration between our two companies and take wireless healthcare to the next level. Both of our companies are considered innovators and leaders in bringing wireless technology to patient monitoring, and our philosophies for improving the delivery of healthcare are a perfect fit.”
More on the CardioNet-MedApps deal here
More on CardioNet and Biotel's merger agreement here
