After burning bright during the COVID-19 pandemic, Siemens Healthineers is now planning to shutter a relatively small unit within its larger diagnostics enterprise that had focused on molecular infectious disease tests.
The company’s Fast Track Diagnostics division and its about 100 employees maintain a portfolio of multiplex PCR tests, primarily sold in Europe, which includes assays for identifying a wide variety of pathogens such as respiratory infections, sexually transmitted diseases and childhood colds.
In a statement, Siemens Healthineers said the move follows a periodic strategic review of its operations, as well as significant declines in demand from the pandemic’s peak.
“Fast Track Diagnostics is a minor player in the molecular diagnostics space and represents a very small part of the overall revenue of the Siemens Healthineers Diagnostics business,” the company said. “About 90 employees, mostly based in Luxembourg, are affected.”
Fast Track’s operations are slated to fully wind down by the end of September. Instead, the company’s in vitro diagnostics arm will continue to focus on centralized laboratory testing, specialty assays and rapid, point-of-care offerings.
Last fall, Siemens Healthineers announced it would lay off about 300 U.S. workers from its diagnostics division, as it continued to adjust to a post-COVID consumer landscape and declining test sales. Those roles were primarily linked to manufacturing operations in New Jersey, related to older versions of its Atellica immunoassay system.
Prior to that, the company set a goal of saving 300 million euros by streamlining its diagnostic hardware portfolio by the end of 2025.