Royal Philips announced yesterday that it acquired Volcano Corporation, a catheter-based imaging and measurement solution company, for $1.2 billion. Philips' stated that this will advance its strategy to become the leading systems integrator in image-guided therapies.

Over the last few years, Philips has put much effort into building their image-guided therapy business through strategic investments in research and development, partnerships and technology licenses. As a result, its portfolio includes each of the top 50 heart surgery and cardiology hospitals in the U.S., according to the company.

Philips noticed that catheters that are capable to taking images from inside of blood vessels are gaining a lot of interest from cardiologists. “We see that this is an important direction in image-guided therapy — it’s something that we do not have today and through the acquisition of Volcano we will be able to offer a more complete product portfolio that is also future proof," Steve Klink, senior press officer at Philips Group Communications, told DOTmed News.
Philips chose Volcano because it believes that it is the only company in the market with a leading position in both intravascular ultrasound imaging and fractional flow reserve measurements. Philips also mentioned that Volcano has the largest product portfolio for those technologies, a great IP position and a nascent peripheral vascular therapeutics business that is geared towards a segment with a growth rate in the double digits.

The combination of the two companies will increase Philips' sales growth and may even propel it into the EUR four billion image-guided therapy market. Volcano's emphasis on fostering close relationships with its customers and its clinical development and commercialization capabilities will help Philips get there.

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