Dive Brief:
- U.K. drug developer Quotient Sciences has snapped up its third acquisition of the year, turning to a contract manufacturer three hours to the south of its Nottingham, U.K., headquarters to expand its small molecule capabilities.
- Quotient will buy Pharmaterials, a contract development and manufacturing organization based in the town of Reading, for an undisclosed price. Acquiring Pharmaterials will add a 48,000-square-foot facility to Quotient's production network.
- "The acquisition of Pharmaterials strengthens Quotient's service portfolio from preclinical formulation development through to commercial manufacturing," said Mark Egerton, CEO of Quotient, in a Nov. 14 statement.
Dive Insight:
The acquisition of Pharmaterials comes just nine months after Quotient bought two U.S. companies: the clinical pharmacology company SeaView Research and the CDMO QS Pharma.
Adding the two firms gave Quotient a foothold in the U.S., broadening its capabilities in both early phase clinical research as well as formulation development and small molecule manufacturing.
Now, Quotient is building out its U.K. operations. Pharmaterials' Reading facility houses 13 GMP manufacturing suites that supported the company's past work in small molecule development.
Following all three acquisitions, Quotient boasts six operating sites across the U.S. and U.K. with over 700 employees.
Like others in the space, Quotient aims to offer a wider range of services all under one roof, making it easier for drugmakers to contract throughout the development process. Quotient's expansion gives it capabilities in formulation development, clinical pharmacology, as well as clinical and commercial manufacturing.
That broader ambition is meant to be reflected in the company's recent rebrand from Quotient Clinical to Quotient Sciences.
"By integrating services typically found in disparate CDMOs and CROs, we break down barriers and support our customers to improve R&D productivity and accelerate the delivery of new medicines to patients around the world," Egelton wrote somewhat loftily in a Nov. 10 statement on the new corporate identity.