(Alliance News) - BioPharma Credit PLC on Tuesday noted that investee LumiraDx Ltd appointed administrators last week and has since agreed an acquisition deal with Roche Holding AG.
The London-based closed-ended investment company said Roche will acquire LumiraDx for USD295 million, with the acquisition still awaiting antitrust and other regulatory approvals.
Roche, a Basel, Switzerland-based pharmaceuticals maker, announced its acquisition of LumiraDx on Friday last week, saying it expects the deal to close in mid-2024.
LumiraDx is a point-of-care diagnostics business.
BioPharma Credit Investments V LP is a senior secured lender to the LumiraDx, and has agreed, alongside BPCR Ltd Partnership, to provide USD59.2 million in funding for the firm until the acquisition is complete. It said Roche will reimburse USD55 million in the period to the completion of the deal.
Roche said the transaction is part of its strategy to enable "patient-centric healthcare", with LumiraDx offering a range of clinical tests that can be used in decentralised healthcare settings.
Roche Diagnostics Chief Executive Matt Sause said: "The addition of the LumiraDx technology to our diagnostics portfolio will enable us to transform testing at the point of care.
"LumiraDx has developed a highly versatile platform that delivers strong performance across multiple disease areas and technologies. We believe this will enable better patient access to timely results in decentralised healthcare settings worldwide."
BioPharma shares were quoted at 69.70 pence each in London on Tuesday morning, while Roche shares were up 1.2% to CHF261.40 in Zurich.
By Harvey Dorset, Alliance News reporter
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Biopharma Cred. (BPCR)