Tokyo, Japan 12/20/17—JSR has entered into an agreement to purchase publicly held Crown Bioscience for TWD 12 billion ($400 million = TWD $30.0 = $1), or TWD 75 ($2.50) per share JSR’s Life Sciences Business Division provides specialized materials, products and services. Crown Biosciences offers drug development and testing services, as well as models and tools. The combined company is forecast to have fiscal 2017 sales of ¥410,000 million ($3,637 million = ¥112.73 = $1), a 5.5% increase. Crown Bioscience generated fiscal 2016 revenues of TWD 1,976 million ($65.9 million), a 30.9% increase. JSR stated, “Upon completion of the transaction, JSR’s capabilities in its Life Science business will extend from pure and strategic research, drug discovery and diagnostics development, to cell line development, process development and manufacturing.” The deal is expected to close in June 2018.

JSR provides petrochemical products, fine chemicals and semiconductor materials, and has designated its Life Sciences business as a strategic priority. For the fiscal year ending in March, JSR Life Sciences Business revenue rose 32.2% to ¥40,200 million ($371 million = ¥108.36 = $1).  

This acquisition expands JSR’s breadth of products and services for biopharmaceutical companies from research through manufacturing. In addition to Crown Bioscience’s CRO services, the purchase adds Crown Bioscience’s drug research product lines, which primarily consists of cell lines and primary antibodies.

JSR Life Sciences’ offerings include the KBI Biopharma contract development and manufacturing organization, bioprocess materials such as the Amsphere A3 protein-A chromatography resin product line, and research and IVD reagents. In addition to holding a 51% stake in publicly held Medical & Biological Laboratories, JSR Life Sciences’ research and IVD reagent companies also include J&W Beijing Biotech, JSR Micro and others. According to Medical & Biological Laboratories’ website, basic research reagents accounted for 23% of its fiscal 2017 sales of $7,348 million ($67.8 million). In 2016, JSR acquired a 51% stake in the Medical & Biological Laboratories’ US business, MBL International (see IBO 4/30/16), which had 2015 sales of $7.3 million.