GERMANY — Bayer has purchased Blackford Analysis and its Blackford Platform, an all-in-one software solution for radiology, expanding its radiology application offerings.

The financial terms of the deal, which is expected to be finalized later this year, were not disclosed.

Blackford Analysis has developed a platform that allows radiologists to test the performance and integration of applications and AI algorithms within their individual workflows, as well as compare multiple medical images with a single click.

Blackford, which has a presence in the United Kingdom and the United States, provides infrastructure and access to a rich clinical application (ClinApp) ecosystem focused on imaging and analytics.

Blackford was spun out of the University of Edinburgh in 2010 and will continue to operate as an independent company on an arm’s length basis in order to maintain its entrepreneurial culture, while also remaining accountable for advancing its technology, channel partnerships, and ClinApp portfolio.

The organization will not be restructured, and the current executive and management teams will remain in place.

Bayer stated in its announcement that it intends to keep Blackford at arms’ length as a relatively independent entity while providing the drugmaker with access to a more solid footprint in digital health and imaging.

“Adding Blackford and its AI technology to our radiology portfolio secures Bayer an excellent position in the fastest growing segment within the overall global radiology industry,” said Stefan Oelrich, President of Bayer’s Pharmaceutical Division.

The acquisition follows a development and license agreement between both companies in 2020 that laid the foundation for Bayer’s recently launched medical imaging platform, Calantic Digital Solutions.

Building on technology from Blackford and adding additional workflow and analytics components, Calantic Digital Solutions delivers access to applications, including those enabled by AI, for medical imaging.

Blackford aimed to provide a one-stop shop for imaging AI, hosting more than 80 offerings from 30 partner vendors; Bayer stated that it intends to “preserve the company’s entrepreneurial culture” following the acquisition.

Bayer describes the overall global medical imaging AI field to be worth more than US$400 million and is expected to continue growing dynamically, with an estimated compounded annual growth rate of more than 26 percent, reaching US$1.36 billion by 2026.

An aging population continues to drive demand for medical imaging while trained radiologists remain in comparatively short supply.

Bayer is offering a comprehensive portfolio of contrast media for computed tomography (CT), X-Ray, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) devices for their precise administration, informatics solutions as well as a medical imaging platform delivering access to applications, including those enabled by AI.

Altogether, the radiology products from Bayer generated €1.8 billion (US$1.96 billion) in sales in 2021.

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