Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche announced on Thursday an agreement to acquire US firm PathAI, which specialises in digital imaging and artificial intelligence-based solutions.
As part of a drive to strengthen analytical tools within its diagnostics business the Swiss group said it has agreed to pay $750 million (637 million euros) to acquire PathAI, a company it has been collaborating with since 2021.
The deal includes up to an extra $300 million in milestone payments, Roche stated.
The accord, which remains subject to regulatory approval, is expected to be finalised in the second half of this year.
Roche was already working with Boston-based PathAI within a partnership launched five years ago and then strengthened in 2024 to develop AI-powered algorithms for diagnostics.
The acquisition will enable Roche to strengthen its position in digital pathology, designed to transform workflows notably by enabling the creation of high-resolution images of tissue and improving diagnosis accuracy, particularly for cancers, said Roche.
In a market note Urban Fritsche, analyst with the Zurich Kantonalbank, saw the deal as “a smaller acquisition that will not impact sales in the short term, but whose platform is certain to become an important tool for new and further developments.”
Roche shares were up around 0.6 percent in mid-morning Thursday at 324 francs.
