Written by : Aishwarya Sarthe
July 23, 2024
This acquisition highlights Commure's strategic move to strengthen its position in the competitive AI medical scribe market.
US-based healthcare technology company Commure announced plans to acquire Augmedix, a US-based healthcare AI company, in a $139 million deal.
This acquisition plan reflects Commure's strategic move to strengthen its position in the competitive AI medical scribe market.
Augmedix, founded in 2013, by Ian Shakil, provides ambient AI solutions for medical documentation. The acquisition values Augmedix at $139 million, and shareholders will receive $2.35 per share in cash when the deal closes in late Q3 or early Q4.
The announcement led to a significant surge in Augmedix shares, which more than doubled in early trading, soaring 150%. The buyout price was 169% higher than the volume-weighted average price (VWAP) of the stock over the last 30 days.
Commenting on the move, Manny Krakaris, CEO of Augmedix, said, “As part of Commure, we believe Augmedix will be well-positioned to scale ambient documentation solutions to even more clinicians and health systems while simultaneously accelerating efforts to infuse more innovative features, integrations, and AI capabilities into our product suite.”
Upon completion of the acquisition, Augmedix will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Commure. The acquisition includes all outstanding shares of Augmedix common stock.
Tanay Tandon, CEO of Commure, highlighted the strategic benefits of the acquisition. He said, “Through our acquisition of Augmedix, we’re taking a huge step forward in building the health AI operating system of the future, using language models to consolidate various point solutions into a single, integrated platform for providers, clinical operations teams, and healthcare IT.”
In October, Commure announced its merger with Athelas, a provider of healthcare workflow automation software. This merger aimed to capture a larger share of the health system market by combining Athelas' expertise in large language models with Commure's scaled software and hardware solutions.
Tandon stated during the acquisition, “The combined company will be able to accelerate the integration of language models and workflow automation technology into larger health systems.”
The acquisition of Augmedix aligns with Commure’s strategy to enhance its health AI operating system.
By integrating Augmedix's ambient AI capabilities, Commure aims to provide a comprehensive, integrated platform for healthcare providers, clinical operations teams, and healthcare IT departments.
The acquisition comes as the AI medical scribe market becomes increasingly competitive. Companies in this sector are vying to develop advanced solutions that improve clinical documentation efficiency and accuracy.
Integrating AI technology in healthcare aims to reduce clinicians' administrative burden, allowing them to focus more on patient care.
The combined expertise of both companies is expected to drive innovation in AI-driven medical documentation solutions.