The Maker of a Swallowable Pill That Takes Pictures Sells for $860 Million Health-care products maker Covidien has snatched up Israel-headquartered Given Imaging in an all-cash deal.

By Catherine Clifford

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

It's not just your photo-snapping smartphone that's a hot commodity these days.

Israel-based Given Imaging, the maker of a swallowable pill camera called PillCam, agreed to be purchased by Dublin-based Covidien for $30 per share in cash for a total of approximately $860 million, according to a joint announcement released yesterday.

The deal will give health-care products company Covidien additional reach into the gastrointestinal market, which the Irish healthcare company says is a multibillion dollar industry.

The technology behind the PillCam is simple, but fascinating. A patient ingests the PillCam and a teeny tiny camera inside the pill takes images of the small intestine, esophagus and colon and then wirelessly transmits the images for a physician to examine.

Covidien says its purchase of Given Images "confirms our leadership in developing less-invasive screening, diagnosis and treatment solutions that can improve patient outcomes and lower healthcare costs," according to the announcement.

Related: A Dose of Advice for Health-Tech Startups (Video)
Catherine Clifford

Senior Entrepreneurship Writer at CNBC

Catherine Clifford is senior entrepreneurship writer at CNBC. She was formerly a senior writer at Entrepreneur.com, the small business reporter at CNNMoney and an assistant in the New York bureau for CNN. Clifford attended Columbia University where she earned a bachelor's degree. She lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. You can follow her on Twitter at @CatClifford.

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