Biotechnology Acquisitions

Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. completed its tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of Deciphera Pharmaceuticals Inc. for $25.60 per share, valuing the deal at approximately $2.4 billion. The acquisition was executed through Ono’s wholly owned subsidiary, Topaz Merger Sub Inc., which merged into Deciphera, leaving Deciphera as the surviving entity and a wholly owned subsidiary of Ono.

Novozymes and Chr. Hansen have completed a statutory merger, creating a new combined company called Novonesis. The merger received all required regulatory approvals and was finalized upon registration with the Danish Business Authority. Novonesis will operate as a global biosolutions partner serving more than 30 industries with a combined workforce of around 10,000 and expected annual revenue of approximately EUR 3.7 billion.

QHP Capital acquired Applied StemCell, Inc. (ASC), a California Bay Area-based cell and gene therapy CRO/CDMO serving biotechnology and research customers. ASC provides gene-editing and iPSC-based platforms and GMP-grade manufacturing capabilities to support research, pre-clinical development, and clinical manufacturing of cell and gene therapy products.

Ariceum Therapeutics, a private radiopharmaceutical biotech company, has acquired 100% of the shares of UK-based Theragnostics Ltd. The deal expands Ariceum’s therapeutic and diagnostic pipeline, including access to the FDA-approved diagnostic product NEPHROSCAN (partnered with GE Healthcare) and additional radio-labelled PARP inhibitor assets. Consideration includes $2.5 million upfront in cash plus up to $41.5 million in milestone payments.

eMolecules, Inc. announced the acquisition of Specs Compound Handling B.V. ("Specs"), a provider of chemical compound management and reformatting services for the life sciences industry. The combination expands eMolecules’ global footprint and capabilities in compound procurement, reformatting, and inventory/repository management for drug discovery researchers. Existing eMolecules investors, including Avista Capital Partners, supported the transaction.

Gilead Sciences, Inc. announced it has acquired all outstanding shares of XinThera, a privately held biotechnology company headquartered in San Diego, California. The deal adds XinThera’s small-molecule inhibitor portfolio targeting PARP1 (oncology) and MK2 (inflammation) to Gilead’s early-stage pipeline; financial terms were not disclosed.

Paragraf, Ltd. acquired Cardea Bio, the developer of the graphene-based CRISPR-Chip biosensor technology used in CRISPR QC's CRISPR Analytics Platform. The deal is intended to scale manufacturing and strengthen technology capabilities, ensuring reliable supply of CRISPR-Chips and supporting growth in the gene editing market.

AnaBios Corporation acquired Cell Systems, a Kirkland, Washington-based provider of human primary cells and cell culture media. The acquisition expands AnaBios’ human tissue and cells portfolio to support translational research and drug discovery. Financing for the transaction was provided by AnaBios’ existing investors, including Ampersand Capital Partners; financial terms were not disclosed.

ANGUS Chemical Company acquired Expression Systems, LLC, a manufacturer of cell culture media, reagents, cell lines, and related services supporting biologics and the baculovirus expression platform. The deal expands ANGUS’ Life Sciences portfolio beyond bio buffers into specialty cell culture media. ANGUS is a portfolio company of Ardian and Golden Gate Capital.

Biotech investor Dr. Glenn Haifer and Ampersand Capital Partners acquired Brisbane-based Australian biopharmaceutical CDMO Luina Bio, which has been rebranded as AcuraBio. The new owners plan to invest in expanding production capacity and evaluating new service offerings and technological capabilities to drive growth.

Pasithea Therapeutics Corp. (Nasdaq: KTTA) acquired Alpha-5 integrin, LLC, a privately held preclinical-stage company developing a monoclonal antibody therapy for ALS and other neuroinflammatory disorders. Pasithea purchased all outstanding equity interests in Alpha-5 for an enterprise value of $3.75 million paid in Pasithea common stock plus warrants, with potential future earnouts tied to net sales.

Kindbody, a fertility and family-building benefits provider, acquired preventative genomics company Phosphorus Labs. The deal adds Phosphorus’s 8,000-square-foot reference laboratory in Secaucus, New Jersey, and brings genetic testing and carrier screening capabilities in-house under a new Kindbody division, KindLabs.

Curia (formerly AMRI) announced that Integrity Bio and LakePharma—two companies it acquired in 2021—have fully transitioned to the Curia brand. Curia completed the acquisition of Integrity Bio in August 2021 and closed the LakePharma transaction in September 2021, integrating both to expand its biologics discovery, development, and manufacturing capabilities.

Aditxt Inc. signed a share exchange agreement to acquire AiPharma Global Holdings LLC (a wholly owned subsidiary of AiPharma Group Ltd.) in a two-step transaction. Aditxt expects to first purchase 9.5% of AiPharma and then acquire the remaining 90.5% at a secondary closing, funded with Aditxt common stock issuances and $500,000 total cash consideration, subject to conditions including shareholder and Nasdaq approval.

Linden Capital Partners announced a majority investment in BioIVT, a provider of biological specimens used in pharmaceutical discovery and development. The investment is being made alongside existing investors Arsenal Capital Partners and BioIVT’s management team, with debt financing provided by Ares Management Corporation’s Credit Group and Golub Capital.

Genetic Technologies Limited (GTG) signed an agreement to acquire the direct-to-consumer eCommerce business assets and distribution rights of General Genetics Corporation’s EasyDNA brands from BelHealth Investment Fund LP for US$4 million (cash plus GTG ADRs). The acquisition includes EasyDNA’s websites, brand identities, and laboratory testing/distribution agreements across 40 countries, and GTG plans to integrate the EasyDNA team to expand its direct-to-consumer and wellness testing offerings.

CellCarta, a global provider of precision medicine services, acquired Reveal Biosciences, a San Diego, California-based computational pathology company. The deal strengthens CellCarta’s histopathology biomarker services and expands its capabilities in AI-enabled quantitative pathology, immunohistochemistry, and multi-omic data analysis for biopharmaceutical customers.

Amgen Inc. announced an agreement to acquire Rodeo Therapeutics Corporation, a privately held biopharmaceutical company based in Seattle developing small-molecule therapies to promote tissue regeneration and repair. Amgen will acquire all outstanding shares of Rodeo for $55 million upfront plus potential contingent milestone payments of up to an additional $666 million in cash.

Neurotrope, Inc. and Metuchen Pharmaceuticals, L.L.C. completed an all-stock merger to form a newly traded holding company, Petros Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which began trading on Nasdaq under the ticker PTPI. Ownership of the combined company is split approximately 49% to Neurotrope shareholders and 51% to Metuchen shareholders, with potential additional milestone-based shares for Metuchen holders. As part of the transaction, Neurotrope shareholders also approved a spin-off of substantially all of Neurotrope’s existing assets, operations, and liabilities into a separately traded public company, Neurotrope Bioscience, Inc.

Croda International Plc has agreed to acquire Avanti Polar Lipids, Inc., combining Avanti’s lipid-based drug delivery research products and pharmaceutical services with Croda’s life sciences portfolio and cGMP manufacturing capabilities. Avanti will continue to operate under the Avanti brand, led by its current management team, and will become part of Croda’s Life Sciences sector within its Health Care business.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Brammer Bio for approximately $1.7 billion in cash. Brammer Bio is a viral vector contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) supporting gene and cell therapy customers and will be integrated into Thermo Fisher’s pharma services business.

Thermo Fisher Scientific signed a definitive agreement to acquire Finnzymes, a provider of molecular biology analysis tools including reagents, instruments, consumables, and kits. Headquartered in Espoo, Finland, Finnzymes generated about $20 million of revenue in 2009. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2010 and will expand Thermo Fisher’s molecular biology and diagnostics product portfolio.

Eurogentec S.A. announced a final agreement to acquire AnaSpec Inc., a privately held proteomics company headquartered in Fremont, California. The acquisition expands Eurogentec’s integrated life science and diagnostics offering by adding AnaSpec’s peptide, antibody, assay, and fluorescent dye capabilities, and strengthens Eurogentec’s presence in the United States. AnaSpec founders Anita Hong and Frank Hong will remain with the business, and Eurogentec plans to maintain AnaSpec’s Fremont facility and employees.

Affymetrix Inc. entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Panomics Inc., a privately held life science company based in Fremont, California, for approximately $73 million in cash. The deal is intended to strengthen Affymetrix’s position in validation and routine-testing markets by expanding its low- to mid-plex genetic, protein, and cellular analysis assay offerings.