Private equity finds growth in reproductive health device market

Reproductive health has been an area of interest to private equity for years now.

Part of the reason is the market’s uniquely attractive characteristics relative to other specialties. High self-pay rates limit reimbursement risk, ancillary services in genetic testing and tissue storage offer achievable upside (research shows sponsor-backed groups book more genetic testing procedures than peers), and macro trends like delayed parenthood have held steady.

There’s even evidence that sponsors can improve IVF outcomes. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine explains that a “larger, investor-backed conglomerate, with a larger clinic network, increases the cycle data available to the clinic.”

It makes sense, then, that reproductive health now has the largest share of private equity-backed providers of any medical specialty—nearly 30 percent by procedure volume.

In such a mature space, opportunities may be scarce and upside more limited, but the market’s fundamental tailwinds mean it’s still an attractive prospect.

Astorg found a solution in its recently completed simultaneous take-private of Hamilton Thorne and carve-out of Cook Medical’s Reproductive Health division, creating a pure-play assisted reproductive technology (ART) platform.

The combination brings together Hamilton Thorne’s precision instruments and software offerings with Cook’s in-vitro fertilization consumables business (ovum aspiration needles, catheters, pipettes, etc.).

Both businesses sell into a mix of doctors/clinics and embryologists to capture the second-order upside in reproductive health’s expansion. The device and consumables market also still happens to be highly fragmented, handing Astorg an attractive inorganic opportunity as well.