Oxford University spin-out OrganOx, the pioneering transplant technology company, has been sold to Japanese medical devices group Terumo in a $1.5 billion (£1.2 billion) deal.
The acquisition, one of the largest ever for a UK medical technology business, underscores Britain’s strength in scientific innovation but will also intensify debate about the country’s ability to retain ownership of its most successful spin-outs.
OrganOx was founded in 2008 by professors Constantin Coussios and Peter Friend, who developed groundbreaking technology to preserve donor organs outside the human body for up to 24 hours before transplantation. The device has since been used in more than 6,000 liver transplants worldwide.
Earlier this year, the company’s main device won the prestigious MacRobert Award from the Royal Academy of Engineering, cementing its reputation as one of Britain’s most significant medical breakthroughs of recent decades.
Both founders are minority shareholders and are expected to receive significant payouts from the sale. Other beneficiaries include OrganOx employees, Oxford University, the Royal County of Berkshire Pension Fund, and BGF – the venture capital firm backed by Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and NatWest – which is set to receive its largest-ever return, estimated at £175 million.
Professor Friend, a surgeon and professor of transplantation, said the deal showed how “British universities are capable of generating innovation and then achieving successful commercialisation”. Coussios, director of the Oxford Institute of Biomedical Engineering, described it as a “win-win situation” for patients, clinicians and investors.
Oxford University hailed the deal as the largest ever acquisition of one of its spin-outs.
Despite its commercial success, the deal is likely to raise fresh concerns about the future of UK innovation businesses. OrganOx’s sale to a foreign buyer follows a pattern of British technology firms being acquired before reaching full maturity or opting to list on the London Stock Exchange.
Critics argue that repeated overseas acquisitions risk hollowing out Britain’s science and technology base, with long-term benefits often flowing abroad rather than contributing to domestic growth.
Terumo, based in Tokyo, said OrganOx would become a wholly owned subsidiary and that the deal would accelerate its entry into the organ transplantation market. The company said it planned to expand access to OrganOx’s life-saving technology on a global scale.
For investors and researchers, the OrganOx sale represents a landmark moment. For policymakers, however, it may serve as another reminder of the challenges Britain faces in translating scientific excellence into long-term industrial growth.
With one of Oxford’s most celebrated spin-outs now in Japanese ownership, the deal highlights both the world-class innovation produced by British universities – and the persistent question of how best to keep more of that success anchored at home.
