Roche and Medical Automation Systems Inc, (MAS) have signed an agreement under which Roche will acquire certain assets from MAS, a Charlottesville, Virginia-based privately held company. Under the terms of the agreement, Roche will acquire all the assets associated with the RALS point-of-care (POC) information technology (IT) connectivity system, as well as the names “Medical Automation Systems,” “MAS,” and “RALS.” As part of the transaction, Roche expects to retain substantially all of the MAS employees.

“As a global leader in POC testing, Roche is committed to helping improve the quality of patient care by providing products that support clinical decision-making,” Jack Phillips, president and CEO of Roche Diagnostics Corporation North America said. “Information management plays an increasingly critical role to meet the growing needs of our POC customers. With this acquisition, we will build on our strategy to deliver integrated testing solutions to our customers.”

MAS is the market leader in POC information management with the RALS POC IT connectivity system used in over 2,000 hospitals in the US. MAS pioneered the use of IT systems to improve the efficiency and regulatory compliance of hospital POC programs. Over the past decade, MAS has consistently brought innovative functionality to the market through collaborative development with its diagnostic partners.

“MAS and Roche have had a close partnership for over 10 years to comarket RALS for hospital blood glucose testing in the US” Kurt Wassenaar, chief executive officer of MAS said. “Roche is the ideal company to build upon the RALS system and deliver the next generation of information management systems. We’re very pleased that Roche has decided to acquire these assets and is committed to ensuring the continued success and support of the RALS products and pipeline.”

Roche Diagnostics develops and commercializes innovative solutions in the field of serum-based laboratory and POC testing, including CoaguChek® and ACCU-CHEK® brand products used by healthcare professionals to monitor coagulation and blood glucose at the point of care. They are currently used with the RALS information management systems in healthcare facilities across the US.

As part of Roche, RALS will remain a vendor-neutral IT connectivity solution and Roche will continue to expand the number of device interfaces available, enabling customers to streamline POC management in their hospitals.

This transaction is subject to customary closing conditions. Upon closing, the legal entity currently known as MAS will be rename.

Source: Roche Diagnostics