GE HealthCare in Advanced Talks to Buy PET Radiopharmaceutical Maker Sofie Biosciences for About $1 Billion, FT Reports

GE HealthCare Technologies is in advanced talks to acquire Sofie Biosciences, a developer of radiopharmaceuticals used in PET cancer scans, for roughly $1 billion, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter. Neither company has confirmed the report, and the talks could still change or collapse before any deal is signed.

What Has Been Reported

According to the Financial Times report, cited by Wixx.com and TradingView/Seeking Alpha, GE HealthCare is in advanced discussions to buy Sofie for about $1 billion. A transaction could be announced as soon as this coming week, though the reporting notes negotiations may still shift or fall apart entirely.

Reuters said it could not immediately verify the FT report, according to the Wixx.com account of the wire's coverage. GE HealthCare declined to comment, and Sofie Biosciences could not be immediately reached for comment outside regular business hours, per the same reporting. Seeking Alpha's write-up added that GE HealthCare, Sofie, and private equity investor Trilantic all either declined or did not respond to requests for comment, while FierceBiotech similarly noted that neither company had commented on the report as of its publication.

What Sofie Biosciences Does

Per the Seeking Alpha account of the FT reporting, Sofie develops radiopharmaceuticals and operates a network that produces the short-lived radioactive materials used in positron emission tomography, or PET, scans. Its pipeline includes diagnostic agents designed to detect certain gastroesophageal and pancreatic cancers, according to the same report.

FierceBiotech describes Sofie as a 20-year-old medtech company based in Dulles, Virginia, that works on specialized chemicals used in cancer-scanning machines. The reporting does not disclose Sofie's revenue figures.

On ownership, Seeking Alpha's account states that Sofie remains primarily owned by its founders and executives, with private equity firm Trilantic having acquired a 25.8% interest in 2024 in a transaction that valued the company at as much as $550 million. On those reported figures, a sale at about $1 billion would mark a substantial step up: using the operands in the reporting, ($1,000 million − $550 million) ÷ $550 million works out to an increase of roughly 82%. Because the $550 million figure is described as an upper bound on the 2024 valuation, the implied step-up could be larger. Both valuation figures trace back to people familiar with the matter as relayed by the FT-sourced reporting, and neither company has confirmed them.

Strategic Rationale, as Framed by Reporting

The Wixx.com and TradingView accounts both note that acquiring Sofie would bolster GE HealthCare's pharmaceutical diagnostics division, which supplies the agents and chemicals administered to patients before imaging procedures. Seeking Alpha's analysis frames this as an opportunity for GE HealthCare to capture more revenue per scan by selling both imaging equipment and the diagnostic agents used with it. That same analysis suggests radiopharmaceuticals may offer more recurring revenue than large scanners, which hospitals purchase far less frequently. This is characterized in the reporting as analytical interpretation rather than a confirmed company strategy.

FierceBiotech notes that GE HealthCare is currently one of the major manufacturers of medical imaging equipment, including MRI, CT and PET scanners, providing the underlying installed base into which Sofie's radiopharmaceutical products could be sold.

Context: GE HealthCare's Recent Corporate Moves

The reporting places the potential Sofie deal against a backdrop of recent structural change at GE HealthCare. The Wixx.com account describes the deal as GE HealthCare's second major acquisition since it broke away as part of General Electric's three-way split in 2024, while the Seeking Alpha account instead dates the company's separation from General Electric to January 2023. The two accounts differ on this point, and neither has been independently reconciled here.

Seeking Alpha's reporting also notes that GE HealthCare shares have gained about 12% since their first day of trading, trailing the much stronger performances of former GE siblings GE Vernova and GE Aerospace. Separately, the same report says activist investor Trian Fund Management, which helped press for GE's breakup, has increased its GE HealthCare position to nearly $200 million — a figure also relayed in a social media post citing the Financial Times.

FierceBiotech's account adds two other data points on GE HealthCare's recent operational history. In July, the company said it was performing a comprehensive strategic review of its Patient Care Solutions business amid what it described as ongoing operational fulfillment issues and supply chain constraints. In April, GE HealthCare cut its profit outlook and restructured, merging its former imaging and ultrasound units into a new Advanced Imaging Solutions segment led by Phil Rackliffe, which the company said was intended to create a more focused and connected end-to-end imaging ecosystem.

Open Questions Flagged by Analysts

Seeking Alpha's analysis identifies two central questions for investors: whether GE HealthCare is paying a reasonable price for Sofie, and how quickly Sofie can convert its development pipeline into commercially meaningful sales. Those questions remain unanswered pending any official confirmation of a transaction, its final terms, or a closing timeline, none of which have been disclosed by either company as of this reporting.

One interpretive point, tied to the figures above rather than a reported fact: a step-up of the size implied by the reporting would raise the bar for how quickly Sofie's diagnostic pipeline must translate into revenue. Seeking Alpha's account frames it in similar terms, saying a sale near $1 billion "would put pressure on GE HealthCare to deliver strong growth from the business," without offering a specific forecast.

Bottom Line

As of this reporting, the Sofie Biosciences transaction remains an unconfirmed, in-progress negotiation described by the Financial Times and relayed by several other outlets, with GE HealthCare declining to comment and Sofie unreachable for comment. Investors should treat the roughly $1 billion figure, the potential announcement timing, and the strategic rationale as attributed reporting rather than confirmed fact until either company issues an official statement.