An affiliate of Leica Biosystems, an anatomical pathology solutions company, has agreed to acquire Aperio, a provider of ePathology solutions. 

Aperio will be integrated into Leica Biosystems. Together, the two businesses will leverage each other's strengths to grow and expand digital pathology into the global life science and healthcare markets. The integrated business will provide solutions in each step of the anatomical pathology workflow, from sample preparation and staining to imaging and reporting. The company will continue to offer both the Aperio and the existing Leica portfolio of digital pathology solutions, so that customers will enjoy more freedom to choose a solution that meets their individual needs.  

Aperio is focused on digital pathology, with the largest installed base of systems in both life science and healthcare. Aperio ePathology Solutions include whole slide scanners, a NETWORK solution that enables remote, real-time viewing and easy distribution of images for peer review, collaboration and consultation. Its PRECISION solution provides pathologists with easy-to-use quantitative image analysis to improve research and clinical productivity, reproducibility, and consistency. Customers include clinicians and researchers working in hospitals, reference laboratories, pharma and research institutions.

"We are excited to acquire Aperio, because of its leadership in digital pathology, innovative product portfolio and its very experienced global team,” said Arnd Kaldowski, president of Leica Biosystems. “This acquisition positions us to better address the growing demand for personalized medicine and the increasing challenge of staff shortage in the global pathology market. Together we offer the market an end-to-end solution from the time that the specimen is collected to the time that the results are delivered, to help our customers improve workflow efficiency and diagnostic confidence.”