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Neoforma may call off Eclipsys merger

Neoforma.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: NEOF) announced Monday it may terminate its merger with Eclipsys Corp. (Nasdaq: ECLP) and HEALTHvision.

Neoforma's stock was hammered March 30 when it announced plans to buy Eclipsys for around $1.45 billion and its affiliate HEALTHVision for around $645 million. At that time, shares were down 33 percent to 20 1/2.

Shares in the B2B marketplace for medical products have been halved since then, closing at 9 5/32 Monday. Neoforma isn't alone; business-to-business companies such as Purchase Pro (Nasdaq: PPRO) and VerticalNet (Nasdaq: VERT) have all suffered in the recent downturn.

In a separate release, healthcare computer services company Eclipsys said the discussions include whether the acquisition deal can be cancelled without paying a termination fee.

Neoforma.com also said Tuesday it is having discussions about potential changes to the structure and terms of its transactions with VHA and University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) the national healthcare alliances that own Novation LLC.

Neoforma.com has an outsourcing agreement with Novation, the supply company of VHA and UHC, to be the exclusive provider of certain services that Novation will offer to the healthcare organizations in its programs.

Neoforma said it won't release any details until definitive agreements are reached.