Back in July, we theorized that 2020 could end up being a record-setting year for digital health M&A, and that’s turned out to be the case. With 35 deals in the first half of the year, nine in the third quarter, and 20 more in Q4, MobiHealthNews and its sister publications tracked a staggering 64 deals this year.
That count, by the way, excludes “blank check” or Special Purpose Acquisition Company deals, which are technically acquisitions but often function more like IPOs. SPAC deals have been popular this year, with MobiHealthNews tracking at least six.
Our usual caveats apply – in our annual and quarterly roundups, we count up all the deals we covered during the year, even if they technically haven’t yet closed. We don’t claim that the list is exhaustive (though please don’t hesitate to reach out to us with any omissions) and we’re aware that “digital health” remains a category with somewhat fuzzy boundaries.
While 2020 is a record-setting year, don’t expect that record to last for long. Investors and analysts we’ve spoken to expect the trend to continue and even accelerate in 2021.
Read on for the 20 new deals from this quarter, ordered as usual by deal amount, where it's disclosed, then chronologically.
Philips acquires BioTelemetry Just this past week, global medical device giant Philips announced that it will acquire BioTelemetry, a provider of remote cardiac diagnostics and monitoring, for $2.8 billion in a transaction that's expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2021. Philips said the acquisition "fits perfectly" with its strategy to be a leading provider of in-home care management technology.
PointClickCare Technologies acquires Collective Medical PointClickCare Technologies, a company focused on cloud-based software technology for the long-term and post-acute-care market, announced plans in December to acquire the cross-continuum coordinated-care platform Collective Medical. Together, the two companies will provide healthcare teams across the acute, ambulatory and post-acute care settings with access to real-time patient data at any stage of a patient’s healthcare journey. The deal is valued somewhere between $500 million and $1 billion according to the companies.
Peloton acquires Precor Connected fitness company Peloton, a unicorn famous for its connected-bicycle offering and virtual fitness classes, acquired Precor, a major manufacturer of commercial fitness equipment, for $420 million. The acquisition is expected to close in early 2021. The acquisition will allow Peloton to bring much of its manufacturing in-house and have more control over the supply chain of its devices, and to expand its research and development team considerably by adding 100 new staff, according to the company.
Francisco Partners acquires MyFitnessPal from Under Armour In November, Under Armour announced that it was selling off MyFitnessPal to investment firm Francisco Partners for $345 million – a fair bit lower than the $475 million it paid for the connected fitness app and platform back in 2015. While Francisco’s Christine Wang said the investment firm is excited to continue MyFitnessPal's "strong history of recurring revenue growth, organic user acquisition and a unique consumer proposition," Under Armour said that it was leaving the platform behind in an effort to reinforce a singular ecosystem strategy (and pick up a bit of extra capital in the process) as it focuses exclusively on MapMyFitness going forward.
Medica acquires Global Diagnostics Ireland In November, U.K. tele-radiology company, Medica announced the acquisition of Global Diagnostics Ireland (GDI), the market leader for tele-radiology services in Ireland, for an initial cash consideration of €16 million ($19.4 million) from private Irish healthcare group, Centric Health. This acquisition is in line with Medica’s revised strategy announced in March this year to diversify revenue sources outside of the U.K., to continue to further its market leadership position in tele-radiology and expand into new areas of telemedicine.
Clearwave acquires Odoro Early in the quarter, digital check-in, insurance eligibility and automated patient collections technology company Clearwave announced its purchase of Odoro, the maker of a patient-scheduling and check-in tool. The companies did not disclose the terms of the deal, but said that they plan to integrate Odoro's scheduling technology into Clearwave's platform so that both the patient and practice can understand which services will be covered prior to the appointment.
Press Ganey acquires Doctor.com Press Ganey, a care-quality services firm best known for distributing patient satisfaction surveys, announced two major deals in November. The first was the outright acquisition of Doctor.com, a digital platform offering provider directories, online bookings, provider reputation analyses and other tools to help private practices and enterprise manage their consumer-facing online data.
Press Ganey also acquired a majority stake in Binary Fountain, another online provider brand-management platform that helps customers ensure that their listings include accurate information, analyze trends in online reviews and boost exposure.
Medidata acquires MC10's digital biomarker business In late October, life science technology and clinical trial data company Medidata announced its acquisition of sensor-maker MC10's digital biomarker business. Medidata said the purchase will allow it to add biometric data and new analytics capabilities to its Patient Cloud platform, particularly to the benefit of patient-reported outcomes, clinical-outcome assessments and novel biomarker discovery.
ACTO acquires CoHealth ACTO, a life sciences education and engagement platform, announced this morning that it has acquired health content delivery mobile app CoHealth. Designed for use by patients and caregivers, CoHealth's tool has worked with more than 200 health organizations to provide medical information throughout an individual's healthcare journey. ACTO plans to integrate the offering with its own business, which disseminates its information to a variety of stakeholders, such as physicians or field representatives, alongside patients.
Ontrak acquires LifeDojo Behavioral health prediction and care pathway recommendation company Ontrak has acquired LifeDojo, a behavioral health-change platform for employers. By adding LifeDojo’s technology-enabled platform to its portfolio, Ontrak hopes to reach new and existing customers with the addition of digital tools that can lead to better health outcomes and lower associated costs.
Aptar Pharma acquires Cohero Health In November, drug delivery and packaging company AptarPharma snapped up digital respiratory health company Cohero Health’s operating assets and the proprietary portfolio for an undisclosed sum. As part of the deal Aptar Pharma, which focuses mainly on drug delivery services and products, will acquire Cohero’s digital platform BreathSmart Connected and the corresponding app.
Additionally, Cohero’s smart-inhaler sensors, called Hero Tracker Sensors, and the connected spirometers, dubbed mSpirometer and cSpirometer, will also join Aptar Pharma’s portfolio.
Talkspace acquires Lasting Digital mental health company Talkspace dipped into the relationship space with its acquisition of couple counseling tool Lasting for an undisclosed sum. Talkspace has traditionally offered one-on-one therapy via a virtual platform. However, the pandemic has created increased demand for couples’ counseling – a demand the company has attempted to meet with this deal.
Medtronic acquires Medicrea Later in November, medical device giant Medtronic acquired French artificial intelligence company Medicrea, which specializes in using AI for surgical planning, as well as digitally constructed spinal implants and robot-assisted surgery. The news deepens Medtronic’s focus on the spinal care space.
It will now be integrating Medicrea’s technology into its Spine at Medtronic division. The company has previously built out this division with its acquisition of Mazor Robotics, Titan Spine and Adaptix Interbody System.
GE Healthcare acquires Prismatic Sensors GE Healthcare acquired Swedish medical X-ray imaging startup, Prismatic Sensors to boost its medical imaging business. According to GE, the startups technology offers fewer doses of radiation to patients and more accurate X-ray imaging, and has the potential to be a "substantial step forward" in detecting cancer, heart disorders and other diseases.
Signify Health acquires PatientBlox Signify Health is turning to the blockchain space with its acquisition of PatientBlox, a tech company that helps facilitate contracts and payments in healthcare. Georgia-based PatientBlox focuses on the value-based care space. Its blockchain technology platform is used to assist with the administrative side of healthcare, including data sharing and value-based payment models
Physitrack acquires Physiotools Physitrack, a London-based provider of digital physical therapy and patient engagement technology, kicked off an M&A push with news that it has purchased one of its primary competitors. Physitrack CEO and cofounder Henrik Molin told MobiHealthNews that the company has acquired Physiotools, a Finnish company that got its start selling physical therapy books, but over the years shifted its business toward software, telehealth and other features.
HealthHero acquires Doctorlink In December, London-based virtual care company HealthHero acquired digital triage platform Doctorlink. While details of the acquisition were limited, it’s easy to see why a virtual care platform such as HealthHero would roll triage assets into its suite of offerings. The company said it plans to incorporate Doctorlink’s tech into its primary care tool.
Olive acquires Verata Health The same week that it unveiled a $225.5 million funding round, healthcare administrative-task-automation startup Olive announced that is has acquired Verata Health, a fellow artificial intelligence company that specializes in automatic prior authorization through an EHR.
Olive said that it plans to integrate Verata's technology and provide its customers with an end-to-end prior authorization offering that it said will reduce write-offs by more than 40% and cut down prior authorization turnaround-time by as much as 80%.
Ro acquires Workpath Direct-to-consumer virtual health company Ro is turning to the in-home healthcare space with the acquisition of digital platform Workpath. Founded in 2015, Workpath created a tool that can offer on-demand in-home care services through an API system. Through the app virtual care providers can request to send in-home blood draws or in-home nurse visits to a patient. Following the acquisition, Workpath will continue operating as an independent autonomous entity and will be able to work with other virtual health care companies.
Kyruus acquires HealthSparq from Cambia Health Solutions Provider search and scheduling company Kyruus announced last week that it will acquire HealthSparq, which partners with health plans to offer quality information to members. The goal is to offer new innovations around how patients navigate the healthcare continuum, the companies say, creating a more seamless platform connecting payer and provider organizations.
