Dutch conglomerate Royal Philips announced Tuesday that it has acquired PathXL, a Northern Ireland-based developer of software used for digital pathology image analysis, workflow and education.
Philips will incorporate the company into its digital pathology solutions business. Financial details for the deal were not disclosed.
“We will be able to offer an intelligent and integrated solution that fulfills many needs in computational pathology, education, workflow solutions and image analytics,” said Russ Granzow, general manager of Philips Digital Pathology Solutions, in a statement. “These important and growing disciplines within pathology will enable a high-quality quantitative analysis of digital whole slide images.”
PathXL technology will be integrated into Philips' existing IntelliSite Pathology Solution, which creates, manages and displays pathology images. It includes an advanced pathology slide scanner and accompanying software.
Also on Tuesday, Philips announced a licensing agreement with Visiopharm, a Danish pathology technology company, to offer its breast cancer algorithms through Philips' digital pathology platform. Philips expects that applying advanced computer processing to a digital tumor tissue image will help pathologists achieve a more consistent reading and diagnosis.
Philips, historically a major manufacturer of medical imaging equipment, has spent the last decade growing its healthcare business in other many non-equipment areas, making acquisitions and partnerships in software and consulting. The conglomerate began a strategic effort in 2013 to partner with health systems on telehealth and health information technology, and has since inked a number of hospital deals, many worth hundreds of millions of dollars, to provide consulting and equipment.
Philips isn't the only manufacturer looking to expand beyond their traditional equipment businesses. Last year, General Electric Co. acquired the Camden Group, a consulting firm, from DaVita HealthCare Partners.
