Roche: buys US healthcare technology Flatiron

(CercleFinance.com) - Roche has bought New York-based healthcare technology Flatiron Health for 1.
9 billion dollars, the Swiss drugmaker said on Friday, in its move to accelerate the development of new cancer treatments.

The two partners have signed a definitive agreement under which Roche will acquire all of Flatiron's shares, following on from an existing equity stake of 12.6%, with the transaction set to close in the first half of 2018.

Privately-owned Flatiron Health makes oncology-specific electronic health record (EHR) software, and also specialises in real-world evidence for cancer research.

Invest Securities reacted this morning, saying that it fully understands the strategic rationale of this deal, which will complement the group's "companion diagnostic" activity.

However, the broker was not necessarily expecting that Roche acquires such an asset (while the partnership appears to be more logical between these two businesses), but rather it should have bought a company that would have immediately remedied the lack of visibility in the company's sales are earnings, the Parisian broker added.

Roche shares are currently up 0.7% at 224.5 Swiss francs in Zurich.

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