Pfizer snaps up ResApp, which aims to test for Covid-19 using a smartphone and a cough

The pharmaceutical giant has made a $100m takeover play for an ASX-listed company which aims to test for Covid-19 using the sound of a cough

A woman has a Covid-19 test at an Albert Park testing site in Melbourne. ResApp aims to test for the virus using a cough. Picture: Ian Currie

Shares in the ASX-listed ResApp Health have surged more than 22 per cent after the respiratory disease diagnostics firm told investors it had agreed to a takeover offer from pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer.

The deal – at 11.5c per share, a 39.7 per cent premium on the company’s three month average price – values Brisbane-based ResApp at $100m. Shares rose 22 per cent to 11c on Monday.

Interest from Pfizer came shortly after the company said it was preparing for talks with regulators after a positive result on smartphone technology that uses the sound of coughing to diagnosing Covid-19.

The technology is based on research by University of Queensland academic Udantha Abeyratne whose work was funded through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The Pfizer offer remains subject to an independent expert report concluding it is in the best interest of shareholders and the green light from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

“This proposed acquisition and research collaboration add to our growing digital capabilities and bolster our efforts to pave a new era for digital health,” Pfizer’s chief digital officer Lidia Fonseca said on Monday.

ResApp will also enter into a research agreement with Pfizer to collaborate on other Covid-19 products.

The ResApp board has unanimously recommended shareholders vote in favour of the agreement.

“We are excited by the prospect of this acquisition by Pfizer, a leading biopharmaceutical company that shares our vision and belief that technology can help transform healthcare and improve patients’ lives,” said ResApp’s chief executive Tony Keating.

“The proposed acquisition recognises the years of dedicated work by the ResApp team to build ResApp into a leader in audio based analysis of respiratory health … We believe that the material premium and certainty of an all cash consideration is an attractive outcome for our shareholders.”

ResApp had already won regulatory approval of earlier research which enabled the detection of asthma, pneumonia and other conditions by coughing through the telehealth service.

Mr Keating earlier told The Australian that it was too early to say when the Covid-19 app would be available to use.

“We’re talking to pharmaceutical companies, tech companies, government and any number of big organisations who can help us bring this technology to everyone’s home,” he said.

Originally published as Pfizer snaps up ResApp, which aims to test for Covid-19 using a smartphone and a cough