Siemens Medical gets EU’s green light for Bayer Diagnostics merger

Siemens Medical has announced that the European Commission has approved its 4.2 billion euro (2.8 billion pounds) merger with Bayer Diagnostics.

The company claims that the acquisition of Bayer’s diagnostics arm will allow Siemens to “tap” the global market for molecular diagnostics, which could have “huge potential” to detect diseases at an early stage of development.

Siemens claims that with the acquisition of Bayer Diagnostics, the newly merged company – to be called Siemens Medical Solutions Diagnostics – is at the forefront of the development of molecular medicine technology, which could one be day be able to identify and treat the molecular causes of disease before any symptoms appear.

Professor Dr Erich R Reinhardt, president and chief executive officer of Siemens Medical Solutions, said of the regulatory merger approval: “This has paved the way for Siemens to create the world’s first full service diagnostics company.”

“This will further improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare,” he added.

Arthur Higgins of Bayer Healthcare’s board of management said in July that Bayer Diagnostics had grown “considerably faster” than the market over the last three years, making it a suitable time to divest the business from the Bayer Group.