Kodak to Purchase Algotec for $42 Milion

In a move to improve its position in the growing PACS market, Eastman Kodak Company (Rochester, NY, USA) has agreed to acquire Algotec Systems, Ltd. (Raanana, Israel) for U.S.$42.5 million in cash.

Algotec has been a technology leader in medical imaging information management, processing, teleradiology, and PACS. The company was the first to receive clearance by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a web-based PACS viewer. At Kodak, Algotech will become part of Health Imaging's R&D operation as a "center of excellence” for developing Kodak medical PACS products and related 3D imaging technologies. The purchase of Algotec will cement a relationship formed with Kodak in 2002, when Algotec began providing supplemental software for the development of Kodak's PACS products under an agreement between the two companies.

"This move will bolster our current PACS development efforts and will give Kodak greater leverage in a market growing at 15-20% annually,” said Dan Kerpelman, president of Kodak's Health Imaging Group and a senior vice president of Kodak. "We will own Algotec's intellectual property, including its unique source code, ideal for developing products in the rapidly growing category of web-enabled PACS.”

A recent survey of U.S. hospitals indicated that almost 60% of chief information officers in these hospitals plan to purchase PACS within the next three years. The price of a system currently ranges from $500,000 to $3 million or more, according to Kodak.




Related Links:
Kodak Health Imaging
Algotec Systems