Dive Brief:
- German contract research organization Evotec has bought up early discovery to mid-stage drug development company Aptuit for $300 million, paid in cash and through debt financing.
- Aptuit brings drug discovery and development technologies such as INDiGO IND submission process, as well as 750 employees and three discovery, development and manufacturing facilities in Verona, Italy; Basel, Switzerland; and Oxford, UK.
- The acquisition will add synergistic scientific expertise across drug discovery, pre-clinical testing and both drug substance and drug product manufacturing, according to Evotec.
Dive Insight:
There is a change afoot in the CRO market, with companies moving towards consolidation through high-value mergers and acquisitions. In the second quarter of 2017, InVentiv Health and INC Research hooked up in an all stock merger to create a $7.4 billion company, and Thermo Fisher Scientific acquired Patheon for $7.2 billion. Just last week, LabCorp paid out $1.2 billion in an all-cash transaction for CRO Chiltern International, following up its acquisition of Covance. This has created a company with a solid footprint in the Asia-Pacific region, a fast growing pharma market.
This move will expand Evotec's offerings, bringing on board drug design & discovery, API development and manufacture, solid state chemistry, manufacturing and controls, and preclinical and IND enabling GLP/GMP programs.
Mario Polywka, COO, Evotec, said: "Our strategy is to continuously increase the value of the company by expanding our leadership position in high-quality drug discovery and development solutions. The ability to provide a proven IND enabling platform and expertise will benefit our partners and customers in discovery as well as expedite progress of projects into Phase 1 and 2."