Dive Brief:
- Contract researcher Icagen will buy Sanofi's Oro Valley, Arizona research facility, expanding its drug discovery capabilities, the company said earlier this week.
- Icagen will also gain access to the site's compound library. Under the terms of the deal, Icagen will make the library accessible to a "broader number" of partners to increase drug discovery potential.
- Financial details were not disclosed. Icagen expects the deal to close in the near future.
Dive Insight:
Based in North Carolina, Icagen specializes in ion channels and transporters. In 2007, Icagen partnered with Pfizer to identify compounds for treatment of pain. Pfizer subsequently acquired Icagen in 2011, only for XRpro Sciences to re-acquire its assets from Pifzer and re-launch Icagen in 2015.
The deal with Sanofi gives Icagen a number of high-throughput biology, screening, and chemistry capabilities.
"The acquisition of the Sanofi's west coast ultra high throughput screening biology and chemistry capabilities complements our scientific expertise enabling us to offer a broad range of integrated drug discovery services in a growing market," said Richard Cunningham, Icagen's President and CEO, in a prepared statement.
Icagen expects to retain "the majority" of the scientists currently working at the Oro Valley site.
Increasingly, drug discovery services are outsourced and multiple companies often work together to combine to leverage their combined expertise. Acquiring the Oro Valley plant also includes a multi-year contract for drug discovery services.