Devicor Acquires Product Line from Neoprobe

Devicor Medical Products, Inc., based in Cincinnati, Ohio,  has signed an agreement with Neoprobe Corporation to acquire the firm’s Neoprobe GDS portfolio of products. Devicor currently provides distribution and marketing services to Neoprobe for the gamma detection systems covered by this agreement. Financial terms of the agreement include $30 million cash at close plus up to an additional $20 million in royalties based on revenue milestones. The sale is subject to approval by Neoprobe’s shareholders and is expected to close shortly after the shareholders’ meeting in August.

Devicor is owned by private equity firm GTCR,

“We are excited to sign this agreement with Neoprobe and believe this is a significant step toward our goal of building a market leading medical device business,” said Devicor CEO Tom Daulton. “We look forward to welcoming to Devicor the dedicated Neoprobe employees responsible for this growing product portfolio, as we plan to expand the business further through our global direct sales platform.”

The acquisition of the Neoprobe GDS line comes less than a year after Devicor’s acquisition of Ethicon Endo-Surgery’s breast care business, Mammotome, which sells products designed to help doctors detect and diagnose breast cancer. GTCR will be investing additional equity capital in Devicor to finance a portion of the purchase price of the Neoprobe GDS assets, officials said.

“The commitment of additional equity capital by GTCR to support our growth is an excellent example of the strong partnerships GTCR forms with management teams to build successful companies in healthcare and other industries,” said Jonathan Salkin, Devicor’s executive vice president of Corporate Development & Strategy. 

The Mammotome® product portfolio is sold in 50 countries around the world and includes the Mammotome® Breast Biopsy System as well as tissue markers for breast disease diagnostic sampling and management. Mammotome has distributed and marketed Neoprobe’s line of gamma detection systems since 2000, as part of EES and then continuing as part of Devicor.

“We are pleased to have arrived at this important agreement for our gamma detection devices with a leader in the diagnostic device space,” said Dr. Mark Pykett, Neoprobe’s president and CEO. “Devicor is a trusted partner, and we believe it can ultimately deliver to Neoprobe the full value of the device business we’ve built. This transaction allows Neoprobe to strategically focus its expertise, competencies, and resources in the radiopharmaceutical space and, in doing so, become a pure-play specialty pharmaceutical company where attractive valuations can be realized for our shareholders.”

Mammotome, headquartered in Sharonville, Ohio, has more than 300 employees around the globe.