Imaging center giant RadNet shocked the AI world this week, acquiring Dutch startups Aidence and Quantib to support its AI-enabled cancer screening strategy.
Acquisition Details – RadNet acquired Aidence for $40M-$50M and Quantib for $45M, positioning them alongside DeepHealth within its new AI division. Aidence’s Veye Lung Nodules solution (CT lung nodule detection) is used across seven European countries and has been submitted for FDA 510(k) clearance, while Quantib’s prostate and brain MRI solutions have CE and FDA clearance and are used in 20 countries worldwide.
RadNet’s Cancer Screening Strategy – RadNet sees a huge future for cancer screening and believes Aidence (lung cancer) and Quantib (prostate cancer) will combine with DeepHealth (breast cancer) to make it a population health screening leader.
RadNet’s AI Screening History – Even if these acquisitions weren’t expected, they aren’t out of character for RadNet, which created its mammography AI portfolio through a series of 2019-2020 acquisitions (DeepHealth, Nulogix) and equity investments (WhiteRabbit.ai). Plus, acquisitions have been a core part of RadNet’s imaging center strategy since before we were even talking about AI.
Unanswered Questions – It’s still unclear whether RadNet will take advantage of Aidence / Quantib’s European presence to expand internationally or if RadNet will start selling its AI portfolio to other hospitals and imaging center chains.
Another Consolidation Milestone – All those forecasts of imaging AI market consolidation seem to be quickly coming true in 2022, following MaxQ’s pivot out of imaging and RadNet’s Aidence / Quantib acquisitions. It’s also becoming clearer what type of returns AI startups and VCs are willing to accept, as Aidance and Quantib sold for about 3.5-times and 5.5-times their respective venture funding ($14M & $8M) and Nanox acquired Zebra-Med for 1.7 to 3.5-times its VC funding ($57.4M).
The Takeaway
It seems that RadNet will leverage its newly-expanded AI portfolio to become the US’ premier cancer screening company. That would be a huge accomplishment if cancer screening volumes grow as RadNet is forecasting. However, RadNet’s combination of imaging AI expertise, technology, funding, and training data could allow it to have an even bigger impact beyond the walls of its imaging centers.
