---
title: "GE HealthCare pays $945 million for SOFIE Biosciences' 15-plant PET isotope network"
description: "GE HealthCare agreed on October 5 to pay $945 million in cash for SOFIE Biosciences, a private network of 15 U.S. plants whose PET doses stay usable for only a few hours after they are made. Ten days later it won European CE-mark clearance for a compact cyclotron that lets hospitals make their own isotopes, putting the $20.6 billion company on both sides of the same supply chain."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Deals"
published: 2026-10-16T21:25:32.581Z
modified: 2026-10-16T21:25:32.581Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/ge-healthcare-pays-945-million-for-sofie-biosciences-15-plant-pet-isotope-network
language: en
keywords: "M&A, Health Care, Medical Imaging, Radiopharmaceuticals, GE HealthCare"
---

# GE HealthCare pays $945 million for SOFIE Biosciences' 15-plant PET isotope network

> GE HealthCare agreed on October 5 to pay $945 million in cash for SOFIE Biosciences, a private network of 15 U.S. plants whose PET doses stay usable for only a few hours after they are made. Ten days later it won European CE-mark clearance for a compact cyclotron that lets hospitals make their own isotopes, putting the $20.6 billion company on both sides of the same supply chain.

## A decay clock sets the geography

[GE HealthCare](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/ge-healthcare) (Nasdaq: GEHC), the imaging and diagnostics group, [agreed on October 5 to pay $945 million in cash](https://www.marketscreener.com/news/ge-healthcare-to-acquire-sofie-biosciences-establishing-a-final-mile-footprint-for-pet-radiopharm-ce785dd8d988f027) for SOFIE Biosciences, a contract manufacturer of PET (positron emission tomography) radiopharmaceuticals, from the private equity firm Trilantic North America [1]. Fluorine-18, the workhorse PET isotope, decays with a half-life of about 110 minutes, so every dose must be made within a short drive of its scanner [1].

What the money buys is a U.S. network of 15 manufacturing sites running 21 cyclotrons, the particle accelerators that make medical isotopes, plus a development site for theranostics, an imaging tracer paired with a therapy built on the same molecule [1]. Those sites already produce GE HealthCare's Flyrcado tracer for coronary artery disease [1][2].

[The Financial Times reported the coming sale on September 13](https://radiologybusiness.com/topics/healthcare-management/mergers-and-acquisitions/ge-healthcare-acquire-radiopharma-firm-sofie-biosciences-945m); Trilantic's 2024 stake had valued SOFIE at up to $550 million [2]. The segment SOFIE joins, Pharmaceutical Diagnostics, booked $2.9 billion of revenue last year inside a $20.6 billion company [2][1].

*Chart: **The buyer: revenue up year over year in 11 of 12 quarters as a public company** Column chart of GE HealthCare's total revenue by calendar quarter from Q3 2023 to Q2 2026, rising from $4.8 billion to $5.3 billion, with year-over-year growth accelerating from under 1 percent in mid-2024 to about 6 percent by mid-2026.*

*Total company revenue by calendar quarter, US dollars in billions, as reported in GE HealthCare's SEC filings. The segment SOFIE joins, Pharmaceutical Diagnostics, booked $2.9 billion of revenue last year. Source: GE HealthCare, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 16 October 2026. [9]*

## The cheapest deal on the board buys plumbing

GE HealthCare estimates the purchase will lift revenue growth, adjusted EBIT margin and adjusted earnings per share in its first full year [1]. Kevin O'Neill, who runs the segment, said SOFIE should grow "in the low double digits" and let the company participate "across the radiopharmaceutical value stream" [1]. BTIG analyst Ryan Zimmerman [told clients the extra capacity could ease bottlenecks holding back radiopharmaceutical adoption](https://www.biopharmadive.com/news/ge-healthcare-acquire-sofie-biosciences-radiopharmaceuticals/832182/) [3].

Behind the bet sits a pipeline of about 20 PET tracers and more than 30 radiotherapeutics in development, counted by MEDraysintell, a radiopharmaceutical market data firm whose 2025 figures the announcement cites [1]. The deal also brings U.S. rights to FAPI-74, a Phase III tracer built to image many cancer types; GE HealthCare has held the rights outside the United States since 2023 [1][4].

*Chart: **The cheapest big radiopharma buy on the board is capacity, not a drug candidate** Bar chart comparing announced purchase prices in three radiopharmaceutical acquisitions: Bristol Myers Squibb's RayzeBio deal at $4.1 billion, Novartis's Advanced Accelerator Applications deal at $3.9 billion, and GE HealthCare's SOFIE Biosciences deal at $0.945 billion.*

*Announced cash purchase prices as reported at signing, U.S. dollars in billions. Sources: BioSpace; TheStreet; GE HealthCare announcement via Business Wire. [1][7][8]*

## It sells the machine and owns the road

Ten days after signing, on October 15, GE HealthCare [won CE mark, the European regulatory clearance allowing sale in Europe, for MINItrace Magni](https://www.gehealthcare.com/en-us/about/newsroom/press-releases/ge-healthcare-s-minitrace-magni-achieves-ce-mark-copper-64-expands-pettrace-solid-target-platform-beyond-gallium-68-), a compact cyclotron for making fluorine-18, carbon-11, oxygen-15 and nitrogen-13 in-house [5]. It also added Copper-64 to its PETtrace platform, beyond Gallium-68 (2022) and Zirconium-89 (early 2026), feeding research on Copper-64/Copper-67 theranostic pairs in prostate and HER2-positive breast cancer [5][6].

The company now sells the machine that lets a large medical center make its own doses, and it owns the regional network that would otherwise deliver them; GE HealthCare earns whichever option a hospital picks. SOFIE will keep supplying rival radiopharmaceutical makers after closing, the agreement says [1][3]. The bull case: compact cyclotrons suit providers without large-scale production infrastructure, so the two bets split the market rather than collide [5].

## Vienna, antitrust and rivals' contracts are the next tests

Watch the European nuclear medicine congress in Vienna from October 17, the antitrust review toward a first-half 2027 close, and whether rivals keep their SOFIE supply contracts [5][1][3]. The $945 million prices one question: whether Pharmaceutical Diagnostics becomes a recurring theranostics supply business or a capital-intensive network selling a commodity to its own customers.

## Takeaway

GE HealthCare is paying $945 million for SOFIE's 15-plant PET dose network while its compact cyclotron wins European clearance, so it earns whether hospitals buy doses or make their own; an antitrust review runs toward a first-half 2027 close.

## Sources

1. [Business Wire via MarketScreener, GE HealthCare to Acquire SOFIE Biosciences, Establishing a 'Final Mile' Footprint for PET Radiopharmaceutical Supply in the U.S., 5 October 2026](https://www.marketscreener.com/news/ge-healthcare-to-acquire-sofie-biosciences-establishing-a-final-mile-footprint-for-pet-radiopharm-ce785dd8d988f027)
2. [Radiology Business, GE Healthcare to acquire radiopharma firm Sofie Biosciences for $945M, 6 October 2026](https://radiologybusiness.com/topics/healthcare-management/mergers-and-acquisitions/ge-healthcare-acquire-radiopharma-firm-sofie-biosciences-945m)
3. [BioPharma Dive, GE HealthCare to acquire Sofie Biosciences for $945M, 6 October 2026](https://www.biopharmadive.com/news/ge-healthcare-acquire-sofie-biosciences-radiopharmaceuticals/832182/)
4. [ConsultingFox, GE HealthCare agrees USD 945 million SOFIE acquisition, checked 11 October 2026](https://consultingfox.com/ge-healthcare-sofie-acquisition-945-million-cash/)
5. [GE HealthCare press release, MINItrace Magni achieves CE Mark; Copper-64 expands PETtrace Solid Target Platform beyond Gallium-68, 15 October 2026](https://www.gehealthcare.com/en-us/about/newsroom/press-releases/ge-healthcare-s-minitrace-magni-achieves-ce-mark-copper-64-expands-pettrace-solid-target-platform-beyond-gallium-68-)
6. [Medical Device Network via Yahoo Finance, GE HealthCare secures CE mark for MINItrace Magni cyclotron, 16 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ge-healthcare-secures-ce-mark-091451912.html)
7. [BioSpace, BMS' $4.1B RayzeBio bet delivers Phase 3 radiopharma win, 12 October 2026](https://www.biospace.com/drug-development/bms-4-1b-rayzebio-bet-delivers-phase-3-radiopharma-win)
8. [TheStreet, Novartis To Buy Advanced Accelerator for $3.9 Billion in Oncology Push, 30 October 2017](https://www.thestreet.com/markets/novartis-to-buy-advanced-accelerator-for-3-9-billion-in-oncology-push-14365131)
9. [GE HealthCare, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 16 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001932393)


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GE HealthCare pays $945 million for SOFIE Biosciences' 15-plant PET isotope network — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/ge-healthcare-pays-945-million-for-sofie-biosciences-15-plant-pet-isotope-network