The Endoscope Company That Just Bet $270M on Cancer Treatment
Olympus, the company behind 70% of the world's GI endoscopes, just dropped $270 million on a tiny Israeli startup that makes biodegradable balloons for cancer treatment. The deal signals a bold pivot from finding tumors to helping treat them.
A Camera Company Walks Into an Oncology Ward
Olympus has spent decades looking at cancer. Now it wants to help treat it.
The Japanese medtech giant, best known for the endoscopes and surgical cameras that hold a commanding share of the global gastrointestinal endoscope market, just agreed to acquire BioProtect, an Israeli startup, for $270 million in cash. The deal is expected to close by the end of Q2 2026.
BioProtect doesn't make drugs. It doesn't make imaging systems. It makes a tiny, biodegradable balloon that protects healthy tissue during prostate cancer radiation. And Olympus thinks that balloon is worth a quarter of a billion dollars.
This isn't just a product acquisition. It's a signal that Olympus wants to be more than the company that helps doctors find tumors. It wants a seat at the table when those tumors get treated.
What BioProtect Actually Does
Picture this: a man is getting radiation for prostate cancer. The prostate sits right next to the rectum, separated by just a sliver of space. Blast the prostate with radiation, and some of that energy inevitably hits the rectal wall. The result? Painful GI side effects, urinary problems, even sexual dysfunction.
BioProtect's solution is almost elegantly simple. Doctors implant a small balloon spacer between the prostate and the rectum. Once inflated, it pushes the rectum more than 1.5 centimeters away from the radiation zone. The balloon stays put during treatment, shows up clearly on imaging scans for precise positioning, then gradually dissolves on its own over about six months. No removal surgery needed.
The company was founded in 2004 by Prof. Avi Domb, Dr. Adrian Paz, and Shaul Shohat. But it took nearly two decades to reach its big moment. BioProtect secured FDA clearance in August 2023 and has since been used in more than 11,000 procedures worldwide. By 2025, the company was pulling in roughly $14.5 million in revenue, with a small but growing U.S. commercial team.
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For context, BioProtect's backers include MVM Life Science Partners, Peregrine Ventures, and TriVentures. A $270 million exit represents a strong return for the cap table.
The One-Horse Race That Just Got a Challenger
If you've never heard of a rectal spacer, you've probably never heard of SpaceOAR either. Made by Boston Scientific, SpaceOAR is a hydrogel-based spacer that has treated more than 280,000 patients globally. It's the dominant product in the category by a wide margin.
BioProtect is betting its balloon technology has real advantages over that hydrogel approach. A hydrogel is injected as a liquid and forms a gel in place, which means if the placement isn't perfect, you're stuck with it. BioProtect's preformed balloon can be repositioned before the radiation course begins, potentially offering more consistent and predictable spacing. Think of it like the difference between squeezing toothpaste between two books (hydrogel) and placing a perfectly shaped cushion there (balloon). One is harder to get right.
This matters even more as radiation oncology evolves. More cancer centers are adopting SBRT and hypofractionation, techniques that deliver higher doses of radiation in fewer sessions. Higher doses per session means protecting nearby tissue becomes even more critical. That's a structural tailwind for the entire spacer market, and for BioProtect specifically.
Why Olympus Is Doing This
Olympus has been telegraphing this kind of move for a while. In 2025, the company co-founded Swan EndoSurgical, a GI robotics venture with up to $458 million in potential funding. It launched a $150 million venture fund focused on GI, urology, and respiratory technologies. It rolled out AI-powered endoscopy tools across Europe.
All of these moves share a common thread: Olympus doesn't want to just sell cameras anymore. Its stated strategy centers on covering "the entire care pathway," from detection through treatment. BioProtect fits that vision perfectly. Olympus already has deep relationships with urologists, oncologists, and radiation centers. Adding a spacer product to those existing sales conversations is a natural extension, not a cold start.
The company will keep BioProtect's operations running in Netanya, Israel, making it a wholly owned subsidiary. Certain amounts of the purchase price will be held in escrow, tied to maintaining uninterrupted business operations after close.
The Valuation Question
Is $270 million a lot for a company with $14.5 million in revenue? On a simple trailing multiple, you're looking at roughly 18.6x sales. That's rich by almost any standard.
But medtech acquisitions rarely trade on trailing revenue alone, especially when the target is early-commercial and growing fast. Analysts typically frame deals like this on forward revenue (think 2027 or 2028 projections), synergy potential, and the size of the addressable market.
And prostate cancer is a massive market. It's the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in men worldwide, with approximately 1.5 million new cases per year. If spacers become standard of care in higher-dose radiation protocols, even a modest share of that market could justify the price tag.
BioProtect also has pipeline ambitions beyond prostate cancer. The company has described applications for its balloon platform in cervical cancer, pancreatic cancer, and general surgery, representing what it calls a $4 billion opportunity. If Olympus can develop those indications, the deal math shifts from "single product" to "platform acquisition" fairly quickly.
The Bigger Picture
Olympus isn't the only medtech company eyeing oncology. Across the industry, device and diagnostics players are pushing beyond their traditional boundaries into cancer treatment. Thermo Fisher just agreed to buy clinical trial analytics firm Clario for up to $9.4 billion. J&J acquired Halda Therapeutics for $3.05 billion to strengthen its oncology pipeline. Bristol-Myers Squibb agreed to acquire RayzeBio for $4.1 billion in late 2023, with the deal closing in early 2024, validating the radiopharmaceutical space.
The pattern is clear: companies that used to help find or image cancer increasingly want to participate in treating it. Diagnostics firms are acquiring companion diagnostics platforms. Imaging companies are building theranostic capabilities. Surgical robotics players are expanding into tumor resection.
Olympus's BioProtect deal is a smaller, more targeted version of the same impulse. It won't make Olympus an oncology therapeutics company overnight. But it gives the endoscope giant something it's never had before: a product that matters after the scope comes out.
What to Watch
The deal should close by the end of June. After that, the real test begins. Can Olympus convince radiation oncologists who've used SpaceOAR for years to switch to a balloon? Can it generate head-to-head data showing real clinical or workflow advantages? And can it push BioProtect's platform into new cancer types beyond the prostate?
The answers will determine whether this $270 million bet looks like a steal or a splurge. But one thing is already clear: Olympus is done just watching.
Deals & M&A4 min read
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