Report: Biotech Research Firm Thermo Fisher Considers Selling Diagnostics Business

Biotechnology research firm Thermo Fisher Scientific is reportedly looking to sell part of its diagnostics business amid industrywide concerns about federal cutbacks in spending on research.

The company’s advisers have been talking with private equity firms to assess potential buyers’ interest in the unit, seeking around $4 billion, the Financial Times (FT) reported Thursday (June 12), citing unnamed sources.

There are no guarantees that a deal will happen or that the unit will be sold, according to the report.

Thermo Fisher Scientific did not immediately reply to PYMNTS’ request for comment.

The company’s diagnostics unit makes infectious disease testing equipment, among other things, according to the report.

The entire healthcare sector has been volatile due to investors’ concerns about the impact the sector might see from President Donald Trump’s cuts to the National Institutes of Health, the report said.

Thermo Fisher’s shares are down 20% this year, while those of rival companies Danaher and Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) are down 11% and 23%, respectively, per the report.

Thermo Fisher reported in April that it saw year-over-year organic revenue growth of 1% in the first quarter.

“We delivered very strong performance in the first quarter in a more uncertain macroeconomic environment, and I’m incredibly proud of our team’s execution,” Thermo Fisher Scientific Chairman, President and CEO Marc N. Casper said in an April 23 earnings release.

BD said earlier this year that it plans to separate its life sciences business, which includes a diagnostics segment, from the rest of the company, according to Thursday’s FT report.

When BD announced that plan in February, it said in a press release that the plan resulted from a yearlong evaluation of the company’s business portfolio and that it would enhance the focus and value of both the life sciences business and the rest of the business.

“We believe the separation will position New BD as a differentiated MedTech leader and enable optimized investment to accelerate our innovation pipeline and ongoing margin enhancement through BD Excellence to further fund growth,” BD Chairman, CEO and President Tom Polen said in the February press release. “We believe Biosciences and Diagnostic Solutions is expected to deliver substantial value as a pure-play leader in life sciences and will be well-positioned to execute on its unique and compelling solutions and growth opportunities.”