Amazon has decided to focus on healthcare and on telemedicine. To this end, the giant led by Jeff Bezos has announced the acquisition of One Medical, primary care chain operating under the San Francisco network of clinics, 1Life Healthcare.
The goal of the deal, Amazon said, is to transform healthcare through a human-centered, technology-based model.
The figures of the Amazon – One Medical deal
In figures, the e-commerce company put up $18 a share, all in cash, for a total value of 3,9 billion dollarsincluding debt. The figure represents an approximately 70% premium to One Medical's closing price yesterday. On the Nasdaq the stock immediately aligned itself with the proposal, posting an increase of 69,45% to 17,25 dollars per share at the end of the session, while Amazon shares gained 1,5% to 124,63 dollars.
What One Medical does
One Medical operates in San Francisco, California, with a network of 188 clinics and 767 subscribers to the platform. In the first 3 months of 2022, the company reported a net loss of $90,9 million on quarterly revenue of $254,1 million. Results that had led the stock to sell about 70 percent of its value on the stock market. Amazon has therefore decided to take advantage of the decline to jump on the deal.
“We think healthcare is at the top of the list experiences that need to be reinvented”, said Neil Lindsay, senior vice president of Amazon Health Services. “Book an appointment, wait weeks or even months to be seen, take time off work, drive to a clinic, find a parking space, wait in the waiting room and then in the exam room for what is too often a few minutes rush to a doctor, then make another trip to the pharmacy: we see many opportunities for both to improve the quality of the experience and to give back to people the precious time of their day”.
The services of One Medical could also be included in US Prime membership.
Amazon and the anti-cancer vaccine
We recall that in mid-July, the US newspapers also announced the start of a collaboration for the creation of personalized vaccines against breast cancer and skin between Amazon and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, which recently launched a clinical trial following Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. Amazon, reads the Business Insider article, has already started recruiting 20 patients. The Phase 1 clinical trial is expected to be completed by November 2023, XNUMX.
An Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider that the company "is contributing science and machine learning expertise to a partnership with Fred Hutch to explore the development of a personalized treatment for some forms of cancer. It's very early days, but Fred Hutch recently received clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration to proceed with a phase I clinical study. a long and multi-year process. Should it move forward, we would be open to partnering with other healthcare and life sciences organizations interested in similar efforts."
