The Tokyo-listed medical device company is to take over the British organ preservation technology company in one of the largest-ever deals in the UK medtech sector.
Tokyo-listed medical device company Terumo to acquire British organ preservation technology company OrganOx for around $1.5 billion (£1.1 billion).
The deal is one of the largest-ever in the UK medtech sector and the largest acquisition of an Oxford University spinout to date.
Founded in 2008 by Peter Friend and Constantin Coussios, OrganOx specialises in advanced organ preservation devices for normothermic machine perfusion (NMP). This technology can preserve organs longer by circulating oxygen and nutrient-rich perfusate through the organ at near-body temperature. In addition, NMP devices enable real-time monitoring of organ condition during storage and transport. This aims to help prevent the transplantation of organs with impaired function – with the goal of improving transplant success rates – as well as leading to a more effective use of organs from marginal donors.
“OrganOx is a pioneer and leader in organ transplantation technology,” said Oern Stuge, the firm’s executive chairman. “Today’s announced transaction is expected to expand the adoption of our transplantation technology platform by leveraging Terumo’s global infrastructure to benefit more patients around the globe.”
Regulatory approval
OrganOx’s liver NMP device received FDA approval in 2021 and was launched in the US market in 2022. The device has also obtained regulatory approvals in the EU, UK, Australia, and Canada, and is currently being commercialised in all these regions.
To date, the device has been used in more than 6,000 liver transplant procedures worldwide.
Oxford University was an early investor in OrganOx, supporting the company with proof-of-concept funding via the University Challenge Seed Fund and investing further through the Spinout Equity Management Fund. OrganOx also received substantial support from the Royal Society as the first investment of its Enterprise Fund (subsequently acquired by Amadeus Capital Partners), while many of the clinical translation activities that happened collaboratively between OrganOx and the University were supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) through both its Oxford Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) and multiple Invention for Innovation (i4i) awards.
Terumo has built a strong relationship with OrganOx through active collaboration over the years and strengthened this partnership through a strategic investment made in March this year via its corporate venture capital arm, Terumo Ventures. OrganOx then raised $160 million in primary and secondary equity financing.
