Bosch buys Health Hero Network
- 3 January 2008
German industrial giant, the Bosch Group, has acquired US telehealth specialist and innovator Health Hero Network Inc., which focuses on remote health monitoring.
Stuttgart, Germany-based Bosch did not disclose terms of the deal with Health Hero Network, which is based in Palo Alto, California. Terms of the agreement were not be disclosed.
Health Hero Network develops and sells technology that allows the remote monitoring and management of patient health data. Since it was founded in 1992, Health Hero Network said it has been issued 63 patents to date.
The company currently employs 44 associates, all of whom will be retained by Bosch.
"With the innovative products of Health Hero Network, the Bosch Group can help patients with chronic conditions achieve a better quality of life," said project leader Sascha Henke.
A spokesperson for Bosch told E-Health Europe “telehealth is a young market with huge potential for growth”.
Bosch is already involved in the telehealth market through a number of initiatives and subsidiaries, including Swiss Telealarm, a European provider of social alarm and nurse call systems.
The spokesperson added: “The Bosch Group is already active in this market for example as a member of the project "partnership for the heart". Together with the renowned Carité hospital in Berlin Bosch experts develop new products for the care of cardiac conditions.” Bosch is also working with the pulmonary clinic in Gauting, Munich, on another project focused on COPD lung desease.
Asked whether Bosch would bring Health hero Network’s services to Europe the spokesperson said: “Health Hero Network fits very good in this portfolio and will help the Bosch Group to grow further in this field. One step will be this year in bringing Hero products to Europe.”
The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and about 300 subsidiary and regional companies in over 50 countries. The group generated sales of sales of €43.7 bn in 2006
The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. In the areas of automotive and industrial technology, consumer goods, and building technology, some 260,000 associates generated sales of 43.7 billion euros in fiscal 2006.
Bosch spends more than €3bn each year for research and development, and in 2006 applied for over 3,000 patents worldwide.
