OrganOx, a pioneering spinout born from research at Oxford’s Institute of Biomedical Engineering (IBME), has been acquired by global medical technology leader Terumo Corporation for $1.5 billion. This landmark deal marks the largest exit in Oxford’s spinout history and its first transaction exceeding $1 billion.
Founded in 2008 by Professor Constantin Coussios OBE FREng FMedSci (Statutory Chair of Biomedical Engineering) and Professor Peter Friend FMedSci, OrganOx emerged from a unique collaboration between IBME and the Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences. The company was the first created under the IBME-Technikos partnership, a model that has since generated over 30 medical technology ventures.
Transforming organ transplantation
OrganOx developed Normothermic Machine Perfusion (NMP) technology, enabling donor organs to remain functioning outside the body for extended periods. By circulating warm, oxygenated blood-like fluid through the organ, clinicians can assess viability in real time, dramatically improving transplant success rates and expanding the pool of usable organs.
To date, OrganOx technology has supported over 7,500 transplants worldwide, reducing emergency procedures and generating billions in healthcare savings across 12 countries. In 2025, OrganOx received the MacRobert Award, the UK’s most prestigious engineering innovation prize.
A model for impact
The acquisition validates IBME’s translational research model and Technikos’ early investment strategy, delivering exceptional returns for investors and accelerating global adoption of Oxford-born technology. The University of Oxford supported OrganOx from inception through proof-of-concept funding, spinout equity investment, and collaborative clinical research backed by NIHR.
Professor Coussios commented:
“This technology was born from a deep collaboration between engineering and clinical science within the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, uniquely enabled by Oxford’s unparalleled cross-disciplinary innovation ecosystem. From the outset our aim was to solve one of transplantation’s greatest challenges: preserving organs in a viable state for longer, so as to make it possible to assess and potentially transplant what was previously thought untransplantable. Seeing that vision realised for the benefit of patients across 4 continents has been incredibly rewarding, and this acquisition will further enhance the global reach and impact of Oxford’s innovative science.”
Looking ahead
Terumo’s acquisition will amplify OrganOx’s reach, bringing its life-saving technology to more patients and healthcare systems worldwide. At $1.5bn, this transaction cements Oxford, and IBME, as a global leader in biomedical engineering innovation.