Boston Scientific

Dive Brief:

• Boston Scientific will sell its drug-loadable microsphere and bland embolic bead products to Varian Medical Systems for $90 million, the companies announced Tuesday.
• The divestiture of the cancer-treating technologies is among the last steps in finalizing Boston Scientific's $4.2 billion buyout of BTG, first announced last November. The two companies told investors in February the Federal Trade Commission had requested further information on the two companies' beads businesses. Boston Scientific reported Tuesday the BTG acquisition has already received clearance from antitrust bodies in Germany and Taiwan.
• "We are taking this course of action to facilitate securing the remaining antitrust clearances, including clearance from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, required for our acquisition of BTG," a Boston Scientific spokesperson confirmed. "We expect the close of the divestiture to Varian to occur in conjunction with the closing of BTG around August 2019.?"

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Dive Insight:

Boston Scientific's Oncozene, Embozene and Embozene Tandem products, used to treat arteriovenous malformations and hypervascular tumors reportedly brought in more than $21 million for the company in 2018. Boston Scientific paid $70 million upfront to acquire the microsphere portfolio from CeloNova Biosciences in 2015.

BTG's beads are part of what made the U.K. device maker's interventional oncology and vascular businesses attractive to Boston Scientific in the first place.

At an investor event last week, Boston Scientific executives said the company will prioritize expansion of cancer indications and geographic reach of BTG's TheraSphere radioembolization therapy, which it sees as a potential billion dollar opportunity by 2022.

Jefferies analysts foresee Boston Scientific letting go of other BTG businesses. "[W]e continue to expect the non-core BTG assets (pharma and licensing) to be divested shortly after close," they wrote in a June 26 note to investors.

Varian has had its own small M&A spree this year. The company said the beads assets build on its June acquisitions of Endocare, a cryoablation and microwave ablation hardware and software maker, as well as embolic therapy company Alicon. Varian also spent more than $280 million to acquire Cancer Treatment Services International and bought intellectual property from cardiac radioablation company Cyber Heart in 2019.

Varian said it does not expect the deal to materially impact fiscal year 2019 results.