Tag Archives: life Science

CellFE secures $22 million in Series A financing

M Ventures

CellFE secures $22 million in Series A financing to advance microfluidics-based cellular engineering platform

Financing led by M Ventures, with participation from GreatPoint Ventures, Riverine Ventures and existing investors Cota Capital, Dynamk Capital, Elm Street Ventures, Embark Ventures, EGB Capital and Khosla Ventures.

ALAMEDA, Calif., Sept. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — CellFE Inc., www.cellfebiotech.com, a life sciences tools company developing a microfluidics-based cell engineering platform dedicated to transforming the development and manufacturing of advanced cell therapies, today announced the completion of a $22 million Series A financing led by M Ventures, with participation from Great Point Ventures and Riverine Ventures as well as existing investors Cota Capital, Dynamk Capital, Elm Street Ventures, Embark Ventures, EGB Capital, and Khosla Ventures.

The continued clinical and commercial success of advanced biologic therapeutics, such as engineered cell and gene therapies, is driving substantial growth opportunities in this emerging segment of life sciences. Therapy developers are forging partnerships with technology providers, such as CellFE, to advance innovative solutions, with the aim to benefit patients seeking better therapeutic options. CellFE’s innovative, non-viral, microfluidic cell engineering platform, Infinity MTx™ system, performs complex genetic cell editing through streamlined, advanced workflows. The platform ensures gentle cell treatment, rapid cell recovery, and superior yield of healthy cells, enabling unparalleled scalability and significant time and cost efficiencies in development and manufacturing. CellFE empowers therapy developers to accelerate the ongoing evolution of advanced cell therapies across a spectrum of therapeutic areas, unlocking a groundbreaking shift towards true decentralized and point-of-care manufacturing in the cell therapy sector. The launch of the Infinity MTx system at the recent ASGCT 2023 Annual Meeting elicited broad interest from top innovative cell therapy developers globally.

With our clear path to help redefine cell therapy manufacturing, we are excited to have the backing of such esteemed investors who recognize the potential of our technology and the strength of our team

Alla Zamarayeva, CEO of CellFE

“Our vision of advancing the platform to a decentralized and point of care application will expand access to cell therapies for millions of patients.” “While viral cell engineering methods have been dominating the industry to date, high costs, limited editing capabilities, regulatory hurdles, and safety concerns are driving a shift to non-viral methods. CellFE presents a unique technology platform addressing key industry pain points across viral, but also other non-viral methods,” said Christian Uhrich, Principal at M Ventures. “Offering efficient, flexible, and consistent payload delivery, superior cell health, user-friendly workflows, and process scalability from development to manufacturing, we believe the company offers a compelling value proposition for the increasing number of therapy developers seeking novel solutions. We are delighted to join the company that Alla and the CellFE team have built at this exciting time and to support the company’s future development, growth, and overall vision.”

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EQT Life Sciences closes Dementia Fund at the hard cap

eqt
  • The LSP Dementia Fund has held its final close at approximately EUR 260 million, at the hard cap and above its original target fund size of EUR 100 million
  • Investors include the Alzheimer’s Association, the European Investment Fund, several global pharmaceutical companies, and insurance companies, amongst other
  • The Fund aims to bring new treatments to patients suffering from Dementia, which is one of the greatest healthcare challenges of our time
  • Led by Professor Philip Scheltens, one of the world’s leading experts on dementia, the LSP Dementia Fund further strengthens EQT’s position as one of the leading and most active private markets investors in the healthcare sector

EQT Life Sciences has held the final close of its inaugural LSP Dementia Fund (“the Fund”), raising approximately EUR 260 million in fee-generating assets under management, meeting the hard cap and surpassing the target fund size of EUR 100 million. The fund is dedicated to investing in companies that are developing breakthrough drug therapies and medical technologies across the spectrum of neurodegenerative diseases.

Dementia is the greatest health challenge of our time: there are 54 million patients with the disease worldwide, and without significant time and investment in battling the disease, this number is predicted to triple by 20501. Despite the graveness of the situation, investment in dementia research and development is substantially lower compared to other major healthcare challenges such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, and cardiovascular disease. The LSP Dementia Fund has been created to help bridge this gap by advancing breakthrough dementia innovation to bring new drugs to patients, while simultaneously seeking to generate strong financial returns for its investors.

The LSP Dementia Fund investment team is led by Philip Scheltens, MD, PhD, professor emeritus at Amsterdam University Medical Center and one of the world’s most renowned dementia researchers, having (co)authored over 1100 scientific publications. The other partners in the investment team are Felice Verduyn-van Weegen, MBA, Cillian King, PhD, and Arno de Wilde, MD, PhD, MBA. The team is supported by the expertise and network of EQT Life Sciences, which has over 30 years of investing experience and closed its flagship LSP 7 fund at over EUR 1 billion in fee-generating assets under management in 2022. It will also become an integral part of EQT’s Healthcare sector platform, further strengthening EQT’s global expertise in the sector and ability to support companies from venture-stage to mature, market leaders.

The Fund is supported by a broad range of investors including the Alzheimer’s Association, the world’s largest charity and advocacy organization in the field, insurance companies, the European Investment Fund, and several global pharmaceutical companies – including from Asia and the US – which underlines the industry’s interest in European life sciences venture opportunities. Other investors include endowments, foundations, and other private wealth investors.

The Fund intends to invest in 10 to 15 companies in total. Having made its first investment in NewAmsterdam Pharma (Nasdaq: NAMS), which focuses on cardiovascular and Alzheimer’s disease, in January 2021, the fund has since invested in four companies: Muna Therapeutics (Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease), AviadoBio (Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) and Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)), Nobi (smart care solutions in nursing homes) and QurAlis (FTD and ALS).

Prof. Philip Scheltens, Partner and Head of the LSP Dementia Fund commented: “The final close marks the end of a very successful fundraising journey in which we have experienced strong interest and commitment. This gives us the confidence to invest in groundbreaking science and entrepreneurship, which this field so urgently needs. I am very proud to be leading such an experienced team of neuroscientists and investors and being part of an organization with such a high standing in the field of life sciences.”

Dr. René Kuijten MD, PhD, MBA, Partner and Head of EQT Life Sciences, said: “EQT Life Sciences aims to improve patient’s lives by supporting the development of breakthrough therapies. We strongly believe that neurodegenerative diseases are the next big challenge after oncology and cardiovascular diseases. With this fund, EQT Life Sciences is now in a strong position to support companies at the cutting-edge of battling this disease.”

Michael Bauer, Partner and Co-Head of EQT’s Global Healthcare sector team, concluded: “EQT is already one of the world’s most active and leading healthcare investors and the close of this fund further strengthens this position. From the earliest stages all the way through to global market leaders, EQT has the experience, expertise, and firepower to support companies in every phase of their development.”

Notes to Editors

The LSP Dementia Fund is a Dutch fund managed by a Dutch AIFM.

[1]Source: Prince, M. Prina, M & Guerchet, M. The Global Impact of Dementia: 2013 – 2050. Alzheimer’s disease international.

Contact
Prof Dr. Philip Scheltens, Partner and Head of the LSP Dementia Fund, philip.scheltens@eqtpartners.com

EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334

About EQT
EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization with EUR 113 billion in assets under management within two business segments – Private Capital and Real Assets. EQT owns portfolio companies and assets in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas and supports them in achieving sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

More info: www.eqtgroup.com
Follow EQT on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram 

About EQT Life Sciences
EQT Life Sciences was formed in 2022 following the integration of LSP, a leading European life sciences venture capital firm, into the EQT platform. As LSP, the firm raised over EUR 3.0 billion and supported the growth of more than 150 companies since it started to invest over 30 years ago. With a dedicated team of highly experienced investment professionals coming from backgrounds in medicine, science, business, and finance, EQT Life Sciences backs the smartest inventors who have ideas that could truly make a difference for patients. The team combines deep sector knowledge, analytical skills, and investment experience to provide the added value that inventors seek.

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Wugen Announces CEO Transition

Abingworth

— Kumar Srinivasan Ph.D., M.B.A., Appointed President and Chief Executive Officer —

ST. LOUIS, MO and SAN DIEGO, CA, March 21, 2023 –Wugen, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a pipeline of allogeneic cell therapies to treat a broad range of hematological and solid tumor malignancies, today announced that Kumar Srinivasan Ph.D., M.B.A., has been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer, effective March 13, 2023. Dr. Srinivasan succeeds Dan Kemp, Ph.D., who has stepped down from his CEO role and the Board of Directors to pursue other opportunities.

“We are delighted to welcome Kumar as Wugen’s next CEO and look forward to leveraging his global leadership, deep expertise in the biopharmaceutical industry, and strong track record of success in company building, corporate strategy, and business development. Under his leadership, the company will be well-positioned to advance our differentiated platform of memory NK and allogenic CAR-T therapies for patients,” said Natalie Mount, Ph.D., Chair of the Board of Directors at Wugen. “We’d like to thank Dan for his leadership and contributions to the company over the past two years and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.”

“I am thrilled to be joining Wugen at this exciting time for the company,” said Dr. Srinivasan. “Wugen has made incredible strides advancing treatments for cancer patients. I look forward to working with Wugen’s talented team as CEO and to continue to execute on our lead clinical-assets, WU-NK-101 and WU-CART-007. Wugen’s memory NK cell and allogenic CAR-T cell therapies have the potential to improve patient outcomes by helping to address the needs of patients with solid tumors, acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and T-cell malignancies.”

Dr. Srinivasan has over 25 years of experience leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies through critical stages of growth, M&A activity, and new product launches. Most recently, he served as executive vice president and chief business officer at Turning Point Therapeutics. Under his leadership, Dr. Srinivasan successfully executed a partnering strategy for reprotrectinib that ultimately led to the acquisition of the company by Bristol Myers Squibb. Before Turning Point Therapeutics, Dr. Srinivasan was vice president and global head of business development for the Biopharmaceuticals business unit at AstraZeneca, where he was instrumental in leading several in-licensing deals that significantly enhanced the strength of the company’s pipeline, established several high priority collaborations, and led all global and regional COVID-19 related business development efforts. Earlier in his career, he held corporate strategy and business development roles at Probiodrug AG, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, and TorreyPines Therapeutics. Dr. Srinivasan holds an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago, a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Case Western Reserve University, and a dual B.S./M.S. in chemistry from the University of Madras.

About Wugen

Wugen, Inc., is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing the next generation of off-the-shelf memory natural killer (NK) and CAR-T cell therapies for cancer. Wugen is leveraging its proprietary MonetaTM platform and deep genomic engineering expertise to pioneer a new class of memory NK cell therapies to treat hematological and solid tumor malignancies. For more information, please visit www.wugen.com.

Investor Contact:
Elsie Yau, Stern Investor Relations, Inc.
212-698-8700
elsie.yau@sternir.com

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Altor acquires majority of VTU and partners with management

Stockholm/Vienna, 17/02/2023 – Altor Funds (“Altor”) have signed an agreement to acquire a majority in VTU Group GmbH (“VTU”), a leading Life Sciences and Green Transition process engineering company, from funds advised by DPE Deutsche Private Equity Management III GmbH. VTU’s management will reinvest in the Company.  Altor will support VTU’s strategy to become a European leader in high value-added process engineering services for Life Sciences industries and a sector specialist in Green Transition process engineering.  The closing is subject to regulatory approval.

 

Founded in 1990 in Graz, Austria, VTU is a process engineering company servicing blue-chip customers in the Life Sciences and Fine Chemicals industries as well as in Green Transition projects in existing and emerging industries. The Company provides quality services for its customers along the whole value-chain of their investment projects: from project development, design, high-end digitalisation to project management as an integrated part of VTU’s services for structurally growing industries. VTU is an EPCMv provider (Engineering, Procurement, Construction Management and Validation) with more than 1,200 employees across Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Poland, Romania, and Belgium.

 

In 2022, VTU reported annual revenues of approx. 175 million Euros. Over more than a decade, VTU has grown revenues and its employee base by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 20 percent.  

 

Dr. Friedrich Fröschl, CEO at VTU Group, said: “We were deeply impressed by the Altor partnership approach from the outset: an entrepreneurial mindset, with curiosity, creativity, and sustainability at the core of its DNA. We are convinced that Altor is a perfect match for VTU Group as we embark on the next phase of VTU’s success story. We are very excited to working together with the Altor team and create sustainable value for our customers, employees and allstakeholders.“

 

Giovanna Maag, Partner at Altor, said: “We are excited to invest in VTU and looking forward to partnering with its strong and experienced management team. The Company builds on very strong foundations: it has advanced process engineering capabilities, a reputation for quality, long-standing and trusted relationships with numerous blue-chip clients in the Life Sciences sector and provides process engineering know-how for Green Transition applications.” 

  

The investment in VTU marks Altor’s fifth acquisition in the DACH region. Currently, Altor is invested in Zahneins (dental practices), oceansapart (athleisure), Käfer (industrial services),  and Kommunalkredit (financial services; closing pending).

The Altor investment in VTU is another example for the firm’s investment strategy that puts a strong emphasis on partnering with companies with compelling sustainability agendas. Examples for this approach are H2GreenSteel (green steel powered by green hydrogen), OX2 (one of Europe’s leading developers of renewable energy sources) and Trioworld (circular plastics), amongst others.   

 

 

 

About Altor

Since inception, the family of Altor funds has raised EUR 8.3 billion in total commitments. The funds have invested in more than 85 companies. The investments have been made in medium sized predominantly Nordic companies with the aim to create value through growth initiatives and operational improvements. Among current and past investments are Carnegie, C WorldWide, Sbanken, OX2, H2 Green Steel, Vianode and Svea Solar.

For more information visit www.altor.com

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Blackstone Announces Close of Blackstone Life Sciences Yield Fund at $1.6 Billion

Blackstone

–Fund enhances firm’s capacity to invest in life sciences innovation and is the largest first-time fund of its kind

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.– Blackstone (NYSE: BX) today announced the close of Blackstone Life Sciences Yield (“BXLS Yield”), its inaugural royalty and structured credit-focused life sciences fund. The fund was oversubscribed and is the largest first-time fund of this nature. It closed with $1.6 billion of investor capital focused on post-approval, commercial-stage opportunities. It complements the flagship strategy of BXLS, which invests in late-stage product development. Together, the two pools of capital enable BXLS to support end-to-end life science innovation at scale and showcase Blackstone’s deep conviction in this sector.

Nicholas Galakatos, Ph.D., Global Head of Blackstone Life Sciences, said: “Blackstone Life Sciences aims to invest across the full lifecycle of innovative medicines and medical technologies. BXLS Yield comes at a critical time for many companies in need of structured credit and royalty opportunities as they seek to grow their business in challenging market conditions. We anticipate these two pools of capital will allow us to offer strategic financing solutions to our partners as we did through our $2 billion collaboration with Alnylam in April 2020.”

Craig Shepherd, Senior Managing Director with Blackstone Life Sciences, added: “The diversity of capital, resources and scientific expertise that Blackstone can offer is a clear differentiator. We are excited to continue partnering with leading life sciences companies around the world and to help grow their businesses.”

BXLS Yield further scales and diversifies Blackstone’s life sciences investing capabilities. The firm launched Blackstone Life Sciences nearly four years ago in response to the unprecedented innovation unleashed in the space by emergent technologies and scientific advancement. Since then, it has transformed into an industry-leading investment platform, meeting global demand for different forms of capital and scientific expertise. Through its flagship strategy, the team sources, evaluates and actively supports potentially transformative products and therapies.

About Blackstone Life Sciences
Blackstone Life Sciences is an industry-leading private investment platform with capabilities to invest across the life cycle of companies and products within the key life science sectors. By combining scale investments and hands-on operational leadership, Blackstone Life Sciences helps bring to market promising new medicines and medical technologies that improve patients’ lives. More information is provided at https://www.blackstone.com/our-businesses/life-sciences/.

Contact
Paula Chirhart
+1 347 463 5453
paula.chirhart@blackstone.com

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BioEcho Life Sciences Receives Growth Equity Investment from Ampersand Capital Partners

Ampersand

Cologne, Germany, 1 March, 2022 – BioEcho Life Sciences GmbH, an innovative manufacturer of nucleic acid purification solutions for molecular diagnostics and life sciences research, today announced a minority investment from Ampersand Capital Partners, a private equity firm specializing in growth equity investments in the life sciences and healthcare sectors. Ampersand’s investment will be used to support the company’s worldwide growth initiatives, including the launch of several new kits in 2022, further development of the company’s commercial and geographic presence, and expansion of its direct salesforce.

Cologne, Germany-based BioEcho manufactures proprietary sample lysis and purification tools for rapid, high-quality extraction of nucleic acids.  The company’s EchoLUTION single-step purification technology enables faster and more simplified DNA and RNA extraction workflows versus traditional bind-wash-elute solutions while minimizing inhibitors of downstream PCR and sequencing applications.  By streamlining the nucleic acid purification workflow into a simplified centrifugation step, BioEcho also minimizes plastic consumption relative to traditionally used methods.  More recently, the company’s CE-marked viral RNA extraction kit has played a critical role in enabling the rapid scale-up of SARS-CoV-2 testing across Europe, and BioEcho plans to launch several more CE-marked kits for molecular diagnostics and research applications in 2022-2023.

Dr. Markus Müller, Cofounder and Co-Managing Director commented, “We are extremely pleased to be partnering with Ampersand in catalyzing the next phase of growth for BioEcho. Ampersand’s expertise and resources will be a significant benefit to BioEcho as we further expand into new markets and capitalize on the speed, quality, simplicity, and sustainability benefits that our products offer users, whether that is in SARS-CoV-2 testing or in a wide variety of other diagnostic, research, and industrial applications.”

Cofounder and Co-Managing Director Dr. Frank Schäfer added, “This partnership comes at a critical moment in the company’s history: the rapid success of our SARS-CoV-2 purification kits is strong validation of the benefits our technologies can bring to customers, and with a deep pipeline of new solutions ready for commercialization, now is the perfect time to accelerate our expansion and leverage Ampersand’s deep expertise in this market.  Further, we are excited that our partnership with Ampersand will help accelerate our expansion to the U.S.—a key priority for 2022.”

Frank Witney, PhD., Operating Partner at Ampersand, added, “Given Ampersand’s experience in the molecular diagnostics and tools markets, we were highly impressed by the differentiated products and technologies offered by BioEcho.  Over the last two years, BioEcho has been a key partner to molecular diagnostics labs across Europe, providing critical purification kits that have accelerated COVID-19 PCR testing workflows and enabled the rapid scale-up of labs across the continent.  We are excited to partner with Dr. Müller, Dr. Schäfer, and the rest of the BioEcho team to continue supporting our global communities in the fight against COVID-19 while also accelerating the company’s global commercialization of new products in other clinical and non-clinical applications.”

In connection with the transaction, Frank Witney has joined the BioEcho Board of Directors along with Ampersand Vice President Arya Mehrabanzad. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

About BioEcho Life Sciences GmbH

BioEcho Life Sciences is an ISO 9001 and ISO 13485 certified company specializing in nucleic acid sample preparation tools for clinical, biotech, life sciences research, agricultural, and industrial applications.  Founded in 2016 by a team of industry experts in genomic sample preparation, BioEcho was established with the mission of utilizing the company’s proprietary technologies and technical expertise to overcome the limitations of many standardized methods in molecular biology and diagnostic workflows.  BioEcho kits offer customers with industry leading quality, speed, simplicity, and sustainability capabilities for the purification of high-quality nucleic acids from a wide variety of samples.  The company’s guiding principle is an unwavering dedication to sustainability, achieved through a specific focus on socially responsible behavior and the development of environmentally friendly products.  Additional information about BioEcho Life Sciences is available at www.bioecho.de.

About Ampersand Capital Partners

Founded in 1988, Ampersand is a middle-market private equity firm with more than $2 billion of assets under management dedicated to growth-oriented investments in the healthcare sector. With offices in Boston and Amsterdam, Ampersand leverages its unique blend of private equity and operating experience to build value and drive superior long-term performance alongside its portfolio company management teams. Ampersand has helped build numerous market-leading companies across each of the firm’s core healthcare sectors. Additional information about Ampersand is available at ampersandcapital.com.

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Ampersand Completes Sale of Adaptas Solutions to IMI plc

Ampersand

WELLESLEY Mass., PALMER Mass., Dec. 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Ampersand Capital Partners announced today that it has completed the sale of its portfolio company Adaptas Solutions to IMI plc for $271 million in cash. Adaptas is a leading provider of mission-critical components for complex laboratory instruments in the life sciences, diagnostics and lab automation markets.

Ampersand invested in Detector Technologies in 2018 and partnered with CEO Jay Ray to build the company (renamed Adaptas Solutions) into a global leader through both acquisitions and internal investments. Together the team acquired Scientific Instrument Services, ETP Ion Detect, Yuanshang Technology, Applied Kilovolts, Ceramax and Cadence Fluidics. Today Adaptas is the market leading provider of mass spectrometry subsystems and components, such as electron multipliers, filaments, power supplies and ion optic grids. In addition, Adaptas manufactures custom fluidic modules and lab automation products including motion control components, syringe pumps and rotary shear valves. The company, with over 340 employees, is based in Palmer, Massachusetts, USA and also has facilities in Pennsylvania USA, West Sussex in the United Kingdom, New South Wales in Australia and Qidong in China. Adaptas projects over $80 million of revenues for 2021.

“Ampersand has been a valued strategic partner and provided the resources to build our organization to support rapid growth and acquisitions. Their knowledge of our industry and network have helped Adaptas refine and execute its growth strategy,” said Jay Ray. “IMI will allow Adaptas to expand the breadth of our product offerings as we continue to develop innovative products and services for our customers.”

Geoff Teillon, Partner of Ampersand Capital Partners, added, “Adaptas has grown to become the ‘Intel Inside®’ for mass spectrometry OEMs. IMI’s product portfolio will allow the team to further accelerate Adaptas’ market penetration and execute on its robust pipeline of new business opportunities, especially in lab automation and liquid handling.”

Baird served as exclusive financial advisor to Adaptas, McDermott Will & Emery served as Adaptas’ legal counsel and PwC served as Adaptas’ financial and tax diligence advisor.

About Ampersand Capital Partners

Founded in 1988, Ampersand is a middle market private equity firm with more than $2 billion of assets under management dedicated to growth-oriented investments in the healthcare sector. With offices in Boston and Amsterdam, Ampersand leverages its unique blend of private equity and operating experience to build value and drive superior long-term performance alongside its portfolio company management teams. Ampersand has helped build numerous market-leading companies across each of the firm’s core healthcare sectors. Additional information about Ampersand is available at ampersandcapital.com.

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CVC Credit Partners backs Calibre Scientific’s next phase of growth

Funding by CVC Credit Partners will support the business’s buy-and-build growth strategy

CVC Credit Partners (“CVC Credit”) is pleased to announce that it has provided a $92 million multicurrency first lien credit facility to Calibre Scientific, the life sciences and diagnostics business owned by StoneCalibre. Funding provided by CVC Credit will be used to refinance the existing debt facility and to support the company’s global acquisition strategy. Baird Global Investment Banking served as the exclusive debt advisor for the transaction.

Founded in 2013, Calibre Scientific is a diversified global developer, manufacturer and distributor of consumable products in the life sciences and diagnostics markets. Since inception, the business has continually expanded through a combination of organic growth and acquisitions, and today has a broad portfolio of more than 3,000 products, which it sells into over 100 countries worldwide. Calibre Scientific’s 6,000+ customers include blue-chip biopharmaceutical companies, leading academic institutions and diagnostics companies.

Dr. Benjamin Travis, CEO of Calibre Scientific, commented: “We are happy to have completed the refinancing of the business and secured financing to continue to execute our acquisition growth strategy. This strong foundation will allow us to progress with our next phase of development.”

Brian Wall, Founder and CEO of StoneCalibre, added: “We are pleased to bring CVC Credit Partners onboard. Their ability to quickly understand the dynamics of the market and Calibre Scientific’s operating model was impressive, while their experience in supporting international growth strategies convinced us that they will have a key role to play going forward.”

Andrew Eversfield, Director of CVC Credit Partners’ U.S. Private Debt business, said: “We’re excited to support a company delivering high societal impact and one whose mission is as critical as ever. Calibre Scientific is an established player in a growing market. It has a broad portfolio of leading brands and a loyal and highly diverse customer base. We look forward to partnering with StoneCalibre and helping to write future chapters of the Calibre Scientific story.”

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Blackstone announces agreement to acquire Clarus, a Leading Life Sciences Investment Firm

Blackstone

Firm Announces Launch of Blackstone Life Sciences Investment Platform

New York, October 4, 2018 – Blackstone (NYSE:BX) today announced that it has agreed to acquire Clarus, a leading global life sciences investment firm that has raised $2.6 billion since its founding.  Clarus, with offices in the life sciences hubs of Boston and San Francisco, is focused on funding growth-stage investments, often in partnership with major biopharmaceutical companies through R&D collaborations.  These investments bring to market promising new medicines that improve patients’ lives.  Clarus is led by a team of seasoned experts who have invested in more than 50 companies in the biopharmaceutical, medical device and diagnostic sectors—as well as across multiple disease areas, primarily in the oncology space.

This acquisition launches Blackstone Life Sciences, an industry-leading private investment platform with capabilities to invest across the life-cycle of companies and products within the key life sciences sectors. The business will fill a critical void in the industry, which is seeing unprecedented growth, but lacks the necessary funding to bring medicines and healthcare technologies to market.  Blackstone Life Sciences will build on Clarus’ significant domain expertise and record of success, and Blackstone’s experience, operating platform and global scale, to jointly advance breakthrough products to address unmet medical needs.

Jon Gray, Blackstone President and Chief Operating Officer, said: “This is a unique moment where rapid advancements in science and technology are creating unprecedented innovation and unparalleled impact on human health.  Private capital can play an important role in accelerating the lengthy clinical development process to help bring vital, but underfunded, drugs to market.  Building on the foundation of the world-class Clarus team, Blackstone Life Sciences is uniquely suited to provide much needed capital and expertise to this sector.”

Joe Baratta, Global Head of Private Equity at Blackstone, added: “Clarus’ investment model— working in partnership with major biopharmaceutical companies to provide them with necessary capital and operating expertise to expand their development budgets and bring medicines to market— is consistent with our investment philosophy across our various businesses.  Drawing on the expertise of the Clarus team, we are excited to partner with companies across the industry to develop and commercialize important medicines and technologies that will make a measurable difference in people’s lives.”

Upon closing of the transaction, Nick Galakatos, PhD, Managing Director of Clarus, will become Head of Blackstone Life Sciences. Galakatos co-founded Clarus in 2005 and has over 30 years of experience in the healthcare sector. Clarus’ team includes both clinical and investing experts with deep experience in the industry, including prior sector experience with 10 of the world’s leading life sciences companies.

Galakatos said: “We are excited to join Blackstone and anchor a dedicated life sciences investing business. The firm’s unmatched global scale, strong operating platform and track record in growing businesses, together with Clarus’ deep industry expertise, make this new platform an ideal partner to the industry that will bring significant benefits to investors seeking exposure to life sciences.  We look forward to building on Clarus’ success with the added power of Blackstone.”

Blackstone has extensive experience and capabilities in the healthcare sector, including investing over $19 billion in healthcare and healthcare-related transactions across more than 40 deals, and other investments across the firm, and is the second largest owner of life sciences office space in the world.

Blackstone’s acquisition of Clarus is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2018.

About Blackstone
Blackstone is one of the world’s leading investment firms. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our asset management businesses, with approximately $440 billion in assets under management, include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow Blackstone on Twitter @Blackstone.

Contact
Jennifer Friedman
+1 (212) 583-5122
Jennifer.Friedman@blackstone.com

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Ratos divests Sophion Bioscience

Ratos

Ratos’s subsidiary Sophion Holding AB has entered into an agreement to divest all of its shares in Sophion Bioscience A/S to Sapphire Bioscience Holding ApS, a newly established company controlled by Thais Johansen, CEO of Sophion Bioscience A/S. The sale is not expected to generate any significant exit results for Ratos.

Sophion Bioscience previously formed one of two business areas in Ratos’s subsidiary Biolin Scientific, the second of which, Analytical Instruments, was divested in December 2016. Following the divestment of Analytical Instruments, Sophion Bioscience has been operated as an independent company in Ratos and recognised in other net assets in the Ratos Group. Sophion Bioscience is a Danish manufacturer in the area of Automated Patch Clamping (APC), and markets instruments, test plates and support services. Customers include most major pharmaceutical companies.

Given Thais Johansen’s position as CEO of Sophion Bioscience, the transfer of shares is covered by Chapter 16 of the Swedish Companies Act (so-called Leo provisions) and is thus conditional upon the approval of Ratos’s general meeting of shareholders. The purchase price for all shares in Sophion Bioscience is SEK 60m. The company currently has about 50 employees and annual sales of approximately SEK 100m. In recent years, the company has reported a declining earnings trend and operating EBITA amounted to approximately SEK -0.6m in 2016.

The divestment is not expected to generate any significant exit results for Ratos.

Notification of the Extraordinary General Meeting, scheduled to be held in June, will be published in accordance with the provisions of the Swedish Companies Act.

For further information, please contact:
Magnus Agervald, CEO Ratos, +46 8 700 17 00
Helene Gustafsson, Head of IR and Press Ratos, +46 8 700 17 98

– See more at: http://ratos.se/en/Press/Press-releases/2017/Ratos-AB-Ratos-divests-Sophion-Bioscience/#sthash.LRZ5sWTg.dpuf

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