Biotechnology Acquisitions in 2017

Ligand Pharmaceuticals acquired Crystal Bioscience for $25 million in cash plus up to $10.5 million in milestones and revenue sharing, adding Crystal's chicken-derived HuMab (OmniChicken) antibody discovery platform and an in-house discovery lab. The acquisition (closing announced Oct 4, 2017) brings four fully-funded partnership programs, is expected to be accretive to revenue and earnings, and expands Ligand's OmniAb platform capabilities.

Veritas Genetics has acquired Boston-based Curoverse, the creator of the Arvados open-source genomic data platform, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition brings Curoverse’s bioinformatics, data-management and AI/ML capabilities in-house to expand Veritas’s capacity for large-scale genome interpretation and deploy machine learning across millions of genomes.

Eurofins Scientific has acquired a 62.63% stake in LifeCodexx AG from GATC Biotech AG, strengthening Eurofins' non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) capabilities. LifeCodexx, headquartered in Constance, Germany, is a developer of the PrenaTest NIPT and generated approximately EUR 7m in revenue in 2016.

Lonza AG has completed the acquisition of PharmaCell BV, a leading European contract manufacturer of cell and gene therapies with facilities in Maastricht and Sittard-Geleen. The deal expands Lonza's autologous cell-therapy manufacturing capabilities in Europe and integrates PharmaCell's GMP production capacity and experienced team into Lonza's global CDMO network.