Translation: Original published in Finnish on 10/14/2026 at 7:40 am EEST.

US laboratory and diagnostics company Agilent announced on Tuesday that it is acquiring digital pathology software company Proscia. The cash purchase price is 240 MUSD, and an additional payment of at most 30 MUSD can be paid to the sellers. The acquisition continues industry consolidation, which we discussed in connection with the Roche–PathAI transaction in this article. The news is interesting for Aiforia, as Proscia is one of the company's key platform partners. In our view, Aiforia could also be a potential acquisition target in the consolidation of the sector.

Agilent is building an end-to-end pathology workflow

Agilent's pathology business is built on the staining and immunohistochemistry products of Dako, which was acquired in 2012, as well as companion diagnostics (CDx) tests. In March, Agilent announced it would acquire antibody manufacturer Biocare Medical for 950 MUSD. Proscia brings the Concentriq image management system (IMS), which is vendor-agnostic, to the offering. The rationale for the deal is the same as in Roche's acquisition of PathAI: a diagnostics company strong in tissue slide staining is acquiring a software layer and access to image data for its workflow. The data can also be utilized in CDx development carried out with pharmaceutical companies.

According to the press release, Proscia's revenue for the last 12 months was over 18 MUSD (~16 MEUR). The solution is used by over 4,000 laboratories, hospitals, and clinics in the US and Europe, as well as 16 of the world's top 20 pharmaceutical companies. The platform has FDA 510(k) clearance for primary diagnosis. The purchase price thus roughly corresponds to an EV/Revenue multiple of ~13x, and including earn-outs, around 15x. The transaction is expected to be completed at the beginning of Agilent's fiscal year 2027. The fiscal year begins in November, so the transaction will likely be completed around the turn of the year.

Two important Aiforia platform partners are now owned by major corporations

In March, Aiforia entered into a partnership with Proscia, through which Aiforia's AI applications will be integrated into the Concentriq platform. Last week, Aiforia announced a similar agreement with PathAI, owned by Roche. This means that two of Aiforia's most important IMS partners for the US are now owned by large diagnostics companies.

In our view, the situation involves both opportunities and risks. Agilent's sales and distribution network can accelerate the adoption of Concentriq. This also grows the customer base to which Aiforia's algorithms are available through the integration. In its press release, Agilent emphasizes the platform's openness and independence from device manufacturers, so we believe there will continue to be room for third-party applications. On the other hand, the partnerships are non-exclusive. Over time, platform owners may have a reason to favor their own algorithms or those of their close partners. We consider the risk to be moderate for now. Laboratories need a broad portfolio of algorithms, and it is difficult for a single platform owner to build such a portfolio alone.

Multiples of the transaction in line with Aiforia's valuation

The valuation multiple achieved by Proscia in the transaction is close to Aiforia's own valuation. Aiforia's EV/S multiple is ~14x based on our 2026 estimate. Actual transaction prices in the industry have varied significantly. Roche is paying a maximum of 1.05 BUSD for PathAI. Tempus, in turn, acquired the AI pathology company Paige in 2025 for only ~81 MUSD.

The transaction reinforces our view that major industry players want to own the entire workflow. The number of independent platforms in the market is decreasing. Therefore, Aiforia's broad portfolio of CE-IVDR-cleared models may appeal to players that are still missing this component. Aiforia's market capitalization of ~34 MEUR is small for large players, so the price is unlikely to be an obstacle. We still consider the acquisition a positive option for shareholders. However, the crucial factor for the investment story remains whether Aiforia can translate its partnerships and customer wins into fast-growing revenue.