ARCHIMED announces simultaneous, majority acquisitions of diagnostics company EUROLyser GmbH and EuroLab GmbH, its main distributor, through a holding vehicle in which current management are partners with ARCHIMED. The deal was triggered by the retirement of one of EUROLyser’s co-founders. The acquisition was made by ARCHIMED’s MED II fund, which began investing its €315 million in 2018.

Salzburg, Austria-based EUROlyser designs and engineers Point-of-Care Testing devices and kits, sold primarily in Germany and Europe and, in increasing numbers, in the U.S. and Japan. Point-of-Care testing is done at the time of consultation, leading to the immediate availability of results and more timely, informed decisions concerning patient care and treatment. EUROLyser products are based on a patented cartridge technology that can be adapted to a wide range of tests historically performed in the laboratory. The firm’s Point-of-Care technology uses the same high quality, gold standard reagents that large laboratories employ, ensuring the same level of excellence for patients and their care givers. The technology also allows for the capture of blood with no sample handling steps involved.

EUROLyser’s Point-of-Care platform serves three end-markets with a broad portfolio of more than 40 tests, all of which are conducted in “closed systems:”

Medical Diagnostics
EUROLyser has successfully developed a PSA test for prostate cancer, which will be launched soon. The company’s C-Reactive Protein Test, which measures the presence and intensity of inflammation, is the Company’s best-selling test, available in Europe and also in Japan.

Veterinary Diagnostics
EUROLyser recently launched a highly efficient canine progesterone test on its platform, permitting breeders to determine the best fertilization time for their dogs. It provides an unprecedented level of quality for small in-vitro testing devices in this domain.

Food & Feed
The Company has an original equipment manufacturing partnership with R Biopharm for products that determine fructose and acid levels in juices and wine, formerly analyzed through a time-consuming multistep process.

EUROLyser markets its products to physicians’ offices and develops partnerships with other companies as a means of expanding into new therapeutic areas. One promising partnership forged by EUROLyser helped SALADAX USA develop a drug monitoring system related to the dosage of the anti-psychotic medication Clozapine.
Co-founded by CEO Michael Gruber in 2005 – who will continue in his position following the management buyout – EUROlyser’s revenues and profits are growing in excess of 10 percent annually. “ARCHIMED is not just any investor, they know our industry inside and out,” says Gruber. “They’re helping us develop an ambitious growth plan that imaginatively harnesses our management and product strengths.”

“We look forward to helping an excellent CEO and first-rate team expand this company throughout Europe and the U.S., both organically and through acquisitions,” says Vincent Guillaumot, a Partner at ARCHIMED. “We also expect to do further deals in the German speaking countries of Europe, a region that is characterized by cutting edge healthcare companies looking for ways to accelerate their growth throughout the region and the world.” EUROLyser is ARCHIMED’s third acquisition in the region, following the purchase of Germany-based Neurowerk, a specialist in brain and muscle monitoring technology, and Switzerland-based Medistream, a manufacturer and marketer of innovative orthopaedic implants.

Dr Dirk Ehlers and Michael Rasche, In-Vitro Diagnostics experts, have joined the EUROLyser board in order to support the strategic development and positioning of the company. Both are members of ARCHIMED’s MedTalent™ network of senior global healthcare industry executives. ARCHIMED’s Talents help source deals and consult on product innovation and expansion at ARCHIMED portfolio companies.

Dr. Dirk Ehlers has worked 25 years in relevant leadership positions, most notably at the helm of Roche’s Professional Diagnostics business and at Mittelstand companies such as life science equipment specialist Eppendorf. Over a 28-year career in healthcare, Michael Rasche has held a range of senior positions in general management, sales, marketing and business development in Point-of-Care Testing diagnostics and in other innovative segments of the diagnostics sector such as tissue phenomics and metabolomics.