Terumo Corporation agrees $1.5bn deal for OrganOx

Founded in 2008 by Professor Peter Friend and Professor Constantin Coussios as a spin-off from the University of Oxford, OrganOx is a pioneering medical technology company specialising in advanced organ preservation devices for Normothermic Machine Perfusion (NMP).

NMP and other ex-vivo machine perfusion (EVMP) technologies can preserve organs longer by circulating oxygen and nutrient rich perfusate through the organ at near-body temperature.

NMP devices also 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.

The acquisition marks Terumo’s strategic entry into the organ transplantation-related sector – a field with significant unmet medical needs and strong growth potential. By combining Terumo’s long-standing expertise in designing medical devices and equipment with OrganOx’s advanced capabilities in NMP, the company aims to deliver innovative organ preservation devices globally.

Terumo seeks to broaden access for patients in need of transplants and contribute to the advancement of transplantation medicine, by aiming to address key challenges in organ transplantation, including improving organ utilisation rates, enabling the use of marginal donor organs, enhancing post-transplant outcomes, and reducing the burden on healthcare professionals through minimising nighttime and emergency procedures.

“OrganOx is a pioneer and leader in organ transplantation technology,” said Oern R. Stuge, Executive Chairman of OrganOx. “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.”

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 via its corporate venture capital arm, Terumo Ventures.

“This transaction represents an important milestone for OrganOx and its shareholders,” said Craig Marshall, Chief Executive Officer of OrganOx. “We look forward to continuing our rich history of collaboration with Terumo to continue harnessing our collective innovations to improve patient care.”

OrganOx’s liver NMP device, metra, 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 over 6,000 liver transplant procedures worldwide.