
Charles River Laboratories Acquires Oncotest GmbH
Charles River Laboratories announces the acquisition of Oncotest GmbH.
Charles River Laboratories announced on Nov. 18, 2015 the acquisition of Oncotest GmbH, a Freiberg, Germany-based contract research organization (CRO) providing discovery services for oncology.
Oncotest specializes in in-vivo pharmacology services. The company has collected more than 400 patient-derived xenograft (PDX) tumor models, which allow scientists to examine how individual tumors will react to certain compounds. Oncotest also offers a full range of in-vitro assays using both commercially available and proprietary PDX-derived cell lines.
"Global biopharmaceutical clients are increasingly demanding a full suite of oncology capabilities from a single partner, including PDX tumor models, cell lines, imaging services, and immuno-oncology tools," noted James C. Foster, chairman, president, and CEO of Charles River, in a press release. "With Oncotest GmbH, Charles River Discovery Services now has one of the most comprehensive and translational portfolios of oncology discovery services in the early-stage CRO industry."
Charles River Laboratories purchased Oncotest for approximately €34 million (approximately US$36 million). The transaction includes a potential additional payment of €2 million (approximately $2 million) based on future performance.
The company says the acquisition will have negligible impact on their consolidated revenue and non-GAAP earnings in the fourth quarter of 2015. Oncotest is expected to represent around 1% of Charles River’s consolidated revenue.
Oncotest will join Charles River’s group of In Vivo Discovery businesses, which offer research and proof-of-principle pharmacology studies in relevant animal models of human diseases.
Charles River is no stranger to acquisitions. In July 2015, Charles River acquired Celsis International Ltd., a Chicago-based rapid microbial detection system manufacturer, for $212 million. In March 2014, the company acquired the CRO Services Division of Galapagos NV, including both Argenta and BioFocus, for $129 million. The company also acquired ChanTest, in October 2014, an Ohio-based company focusing on ion-channel drug discovery.
This most recent acquisition comes as cancer drugs and treatments are entering the market at an accelerated pace.
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