(By Balachander) Alere Inc. (NYSE: ALR), which makes health management products, announced the acquisition of Epocal Inc., a provider of technologies that support blood gas and electrolyte testing at the point of care.
Waltham, Massachusetts-based Alere paid roughly $166 million cash to acquire Ottawa, Canada-based Epocal.
The consideration includes a $15 million payment for the achievement of first two financial milestones.
Further payments of up to $75.5 million could be triggered if milestones linked to the delivery of additional product offerings on the Epocal platform are achieved, the company said.
"Through its unique combination of novel diagnostic parameters and wireless-enabled technology, Epocal has set new standards in helping healthcare practitioners in critical settings deliver better patient outcomes, all the while establishing clinical efficiencies," said Alere CEO, Ron Zwanziger.
Alere's products and services focus on cardiology, infectious disease, toxicology and diabetes.
In May 2011 Alere assumed distribution and customer support for the epoc Blood Analysis System.
The stock, which has been trading in the 52-week range of $17.13 to $27.22, shed 0.55 percent to trade at $21.70 on Wednesday.