Royal Philips has announced an agreement to acquire Electrical Geodesics, Inc (EGI), a US-based medical device company that designs, develops and commercialises a range of non-invasive technologies used to monitor and interpret brain activity.
EGI’s portfolio of EEG hardware, software and acquisition sensors will complement Philips’ existing portfolio of imaging technologies (e.g. MRI and PET-CT) and advanced informatics (e.g. IntelliSpace Portal) for neurological applications. The combined portfolios will enable Philips to address neurological disorders such as stroke, epilepsy, traumatic brain injury and Parkinson’s disease.
Under the terms of the agreement, EGI stockholders will receive, in cash, 105.4 pence per EGI share, which constitutes a 36% premium to EGI’s closing price on 21 June, 2017, for a total equity value of £29 million (approximately €32.9 million). The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including EGI stockholder approval, and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2017.
“In order to improve the treatment for some of the most complicated, life altering neurological disorders, we need more personalised and adaptive guidance tools to plan each individual patient’s therapeutic options”, says Joe Burnett, Business Leader Neuro Diagnostics at Philips. “This acquisition will enable Philips to provide an integrated neurology solution comprising diagnostic imaging and clinical informatics to assess brain anatomy and physiological processes, and EEG mapping tools from EGI to measure electrical brain activity. By fusing these different tools together, we will create a more comprehensive map of the brain, and unlock new computational algorithms which will help to shorten the path to a definitive diagnosis and guide some of the most complex therapeutic strategies.”
“Our team is very excited to join Philips and continue to drive advancements in neurological disorders including epilepsy, stroke, Parkinson’s disease and many more”, says Don Tucker, Founder and CEO of EGI. “We will now complete the important work that we started 25 years ago, as part of a health technology leader that is known for its commitment to research and innovation. Our goal has always been to put the patient first and we feel this combination to be a perfect match.”
A key component of EGI’s products is the company’s proprietary dense array EEG platform technology, which gathers brain activity data from many more electrodes than conventional EEG products. This generates significantly higher quality and more precise levels of information. With regulatory clearance in the USA, EU and a number of other major international regulatory bodies, EGI’s technology has been increasingly adopted as a powerful research tool and as a cost effective, patient friendly clinical neuro diagnostic platform.
EGI is based in Eugene, Oregon, USA and is listed on AIM, a market operated and regulated by the London Stock Exchange. In 2016, the company generated sales of US$ 14.3 million and employed approximately 90 employees.
