Sigma-Aldrich Adds Biologics-Manufacturing Services
At the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference on January 9, Mr. Sachdev said the acquisition will add testing services for biological drug production, including biogenerics. Eighty percent of BioReliance’s business is in biologics testing. BioReliance’s toxicity testing business can use Sigma-Aldrich’s zinc finger nuclease gene-editing techniques to create genetic and mammalian models.
St. Louis, MO 1/9/12; Rockville, MD 1/9/12—Sigma-Aldrich has announced it will acquire biopharmaceutical-testing services company BioReliance from Avista Capital Partners for $350 million in cash. BioReliance caters to the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, diagnostic and other life science industries by offering biologic, specialized toxicology and animal health testing. BioReliance had revenues of $110 million in 2010 and predicts double-digit growth for 2011. The Maryland-based company employs more than 650 people. “Our vision with Sigma-Aldrich is to enhance our company’s broad product offering and strong technology platforms with a compelling and specialized services platform. The addition of BioReliance’s industry-leading QA/QC testing services enables us to support customers’ needs to determine the quality and integrity of biological drugs at every step of the development and manufacturing process,” stated Sigma-Aldrich President and CEO Rakesh Sachdev. The purchase should be modestly accretive to Sigma-Aldrich’s diluted EPS this year. The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter.
