Private Equity-Backed Biotechnology Acquisitions

KKR has completed an additional investment in Sylvan, a global mushroom spawn and fungal biotechnology company, with participation from TPG NewQuest, Ping'An Capital, China Post Insurance, Schroders Capital, Tsao Pao Chee and a follow-on from Novo Holdings. The funding will support Sylvan’s expansion—increasing production capacity, strengthening R&D, developing new product categories and deeper growth across Asian markets—while KKR remains the company’s majority investor.

Gannet BioChem, a PE-backed specialty CDMO, has acquired Laysan Bio, a maker of activated polyethylene glycol (PEG) reagents based in Arab, Alabama. The add-on expands Gannet BioChem's activated polymer and bioconjugation capabilities, strengthening its ability to support partners from early development through GMP manufacturing.

EQT Life Sciences (via its LSP Dementia Fund) and Gimv co-led a €51 million Series B in German clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Exciva to fund a Phase 2 trial of its lead candidate, Deraphan, for agitation associated with Alzheimer's disease. Additional participants included Fountain Healthcare Partners, LifeArc, Carma Fund, Modi Ventures, Andera Partners, LBBW and returning investors; proceeds will support multinational Phase 2 studies across the EU, United States and Canada.

ARCHIMED, a healthcare-focused private equity firm, has acquired a majority stake in Switzerland-based ExcellGene SA and its sister company Magellan Biologics & Consulting (Portugal), partnering with founders Florian and Maria Wurm and management. The investment creates a group focused on cell line development, gene transfer and cell culture-based manufacturing to accelerate work on biosimilars, recombinant proteins and transfection/media products.

Battery Ventures has completed a take-private acquisition of Enzo Biochem (Enzo), a life‑science research reagents company. Battery plans to invest in R&D, accelerate growth, and build Enzo into a broader reagents platform through product development and targeted add-on acquisitions.

AVS Bio, a portfolio company of Arlington Capital Partners, has acquired ImmunoPrecise Antibodies (Europe) B.V., a carve-out from ImmunoPrecise Antibodies Ltd. The acquisition expands AVS Bio's European footprint and adds antibody discovery, recombinant protein expression, and organoid growth factor development capabilities to its biologics services platform.

Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) and Bain Capital have created a new independent biopharmaceutical company (NewCo) to advance five licensed immunology assets, with Bain Capital committing $300 million and support from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. BMS licensed three clinical-stage and two Phase 1-ready programs to NewCo and will retain nearly a 20% equity stake while joining the new company's board.

Funds managed by Perceptive Advisors have acquired substantially all of the assets of Synthego, with the transaction closing on July 18, 2025. Synthego will continue operating under its existing leadership and brand, maintaining manufacturing of guide RNA in Redwood City while leveraging Perceptive's resources to accelerate product development and expand its CRISPR offerings.

Magnitude Biosciences, a County Durham–based contract research organisation, secured over £700,000 in growth funding led by NPIF II - Maven Equity Finance alongside the Finance Durham Fund with continued support from Northstar Ventures. The funding, matched by an Innovate UK grant, will scale the company's WormGazer high-throughput in vivo screening platform, expand robotics, machine‑learning and biological capabilities, and create skilled jobs at NETPark in Sedgefield.

Funds managed by The Carlyle Group and SK Capital Partners have completed a takeover of bluebird bio, taking the Somerville, Massachusetts-based gene therapy company private. The deal provides significant primary capital and a new management team led by David Meek to scale commercial delivery, expand manufacturing capacity, and stabilize bluebird's financial position following liquidity concerns.

Astorg has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in Solabia Group from TA Associates, with TA reinvesting alongside Astorg. Solabia, a Paris-headquartered biotech ingredients manufacturer with 11 production sites, 8 R&D labs and over 900 employees, will partner with Astorg to accelerate international expansion (particularly in the US and Asia), advance product innovation and pursue targeted M&A.

Artis BioSolutions, a newly launched CDMO backed by Oak HC/FT, has acquired Landmark Bio to expand capabilities for the development and manufacturing of cell and gene therapies. Landmark Bio will continue to operate as a distinct entity from its Watertown, Massachusetts headquarters while leveraging Artis' funding and platform to scale process development, GMP manufacturing, and commercialization support.

Momentum Biotechnologies, a mass spectrometry–focused contract research organization (CRO) based in Billerica, Massachusetts, has acquired Munich-based OmicScouts GmbH to integrate proteomics capabilities into its drug-discovery service offering. The deal expands Momentum's technical services (chemoproteomics and validated proteomic assays) and provides immediate geographic presence in Europe.

Dxcover, a University of Strathclyde spin-out developing multiomic, AI-enabled liquid biopsy diagnostics, raised £5 million from new and existing investors including the Investment Fund for Scotland (managed by Maven), Macmillan Cancer Support, Eos Advisory (lead), SIS Ventures, the University of Strathclyde and Norcliffe Capital. The funding will advance Dxcover's PANAROMIC platform technology, accelerate commercialisation of its brain cancer liquid biopsy and support expansion into the UK, Europe and the United States.

Tidal Vision raised an oversubscribed $140 million Series B led by Cambridge Companies SPG with participation from Eni Next, Milliken & Company, KIRKBI Climate, Convent Capital, SWEN Capital Partners' Blue Ocean Fund, MBX Capital, IDO Investments (Oman Investment Authority) and others. The growth equity will fund expanded commercial-scale production, new facilities in Europe and the U.S. (Texas and Ohio), and accelerated R&D to scale chitosan-based biomolecular solutions for water treatment, agriculture, and materials markets globally.

Cube Biotech, a portfolio company of ARCHIMED, has acquired IBA Lifesciences GmbH, a German life‑science tools company known for its Strep‑Tag affinity technology. The deal expands Cube's protein purification product portfolio and strengthens its position in affinity‑tag purification technologies to better serve academic and industry researchers worldwide.

NanoImaging Services (NIS), a cryo-electron microscopy services provider backed by Ampersand Capital Partners, has acquired Proteos, Inc., a Kalamazoo-based CRO specializing in recombinant protein and antibody production. The add-on acquisition integrates Proteos’ protein production capabilities with NIS’s cryo-EM services to create an end-to-end offering for structure-based drug discovery and protein production workflows.

K2 VBI Equity Trust, LLC, an affiliate of K2 HealthVentures LLC, completed the purchase of VBI Vaccines Inc. pursuant to an amended acquisition agreement and the Company's creditor protection proceedings under Canada's CCAA. Following closing, VBI and certain subsidiaries became wholly owned by the purchaser, all common shares were redeemed and cancelled, and VBI's directors and executive officers were replaced by nominees of K2; the company is expected to cease being a reporting issuer in Canada and to deregister its U.S. public filings.

Altaris, a New York-based healthcare-focused investment firm, acquired the U.S. and U.K. operations of WuXi AppTec's Advanced Therapies unit (including OXGENE). Advanced Therapies will be renamed and headquartered in the United States and Altaris intends to combine it with its recently acquired Minaris Regenerative Medicine to form Minaris Advanced Therapies, expanding cell-therapy CDMO capabilities and global footprint.

Chroma Medicine and Nvelop Therapeutics have merged to form nChroma Bio and completed an oversubscribed $75 million financing led by Cormorant Asset Management, ARCH Venture Partners, Atlas Venture and Newpath Partners. The combined company will advance a pipeline built on epigenetic editing and non-viral, programmable in vivo delivery, with lead candidate CRMA-1001 targeted at chronic hepatitis B and D and a planned clinical trial application submission in 2025.

Ampersand Capital Partners has made a growth equity investment in VIVEbiotech to support expansion of the company’s lentiviral vector development and GMP manufacturing capabilities in San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa, Spain. The investment will fund capacity growth and execution of VIVEbiotech’s pipeline of customer projects for cell and gene therapy developers, and industry veteran Dr. Stefan Beyer has been named Chairman.

Ampersand Capital Partners has completed the acquisition of Nektar Therapeutics' PEGylation reagent manufacturing business and launched the new Ampersand portfolio company, Gannet BioChem, operating from a 124,000 sq. ft. FDA‑inspected facility in Huntsville, Alabama. The transaction represents a divestiture by Nektar and creates an independent specialty CDMO focused on development, scaling, and GMP production of polyethylene glycol (PEG) reagents for clinical and commercial biopharmaceutical customers.

Global healthcare private equity firm ARCHIMED has acquired SeqCenter, a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based provider of next-generation DNA and RNA sequencing, through its MED Rise fund. ARCHIMED will leverage its MedValue playbook to accelerate SeqCenter's internationalization in Europe and Asia and support further development of advanced sequencing technologies; SeqCenter's founder rolled over a significant portion of his proceeds into the business.

GHO Capital Partners and Ampersand Capital Partners have completed the acquisition of Avid Bioservices, a dedicated biologics CDMO, in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $1.1 billion. The transaction takes Avid private (shareholders received $12.50 per share) and positions the company for capability expansion, geographic reach and accelerated growth under the new PE ownership.

Miura Partners has signed an agreement to acquire HTBA (HealthTech BioActives), a Barcelona-headquartered producer of flavonoids and active vitamin B12 used across pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, food & beverage and animal nutrition markets. Miura will pursue organic and inorganic initiatives to consolidate HTBA as a leading platform for natural ingredients; the deal is the third investment from Miura Fund IV and is pending approval from the Spanish regulator.

Lomond Therapeutics completed a reverse merger with Venetian-1 Acquisition Corp., which changed its name to Lomond Therapeutics Holdings, Inc., and closed a $44 million private placement led by existing and new investors. The financing included participation from OrbiMed, Torrey Pines Investment, Deerfield Management, American Financial Group and Heights Capital and will fund advancement of Lomond’s clinical-stage oncology programs (lomonitinib, lonitoclax and a menin inhibitor).

Cellipont Bioservices named Darren Head as CEO and announced a minority growth equity investment from HealthQuest Capital, with majority investor Great Point Partners also participating. The capital and leadership transition are intended to support Cellipont’s expansion of cell-therapy CDMO capabilities and operational growth.

Growth equity firm AVANT BIO (Avant Bio Fund II LP) participated in three financing rounds: it joined Nomic Bio’s oversubscribed Series B, led PathPresenter’s $7.5M Series A, and joined PL BioScience’s €7.8M Series A. The investments support commercialization, scale-up of production and adoption of life‑science and healthtech solutions across proteomics, digital pathology, and xeno‑free cell culture media.

eMolecules, a San Diego-based provider of a chemical compound search-and-fulfillment platform and a portfolio company of Avista Healthcare Partners, has acquired Synple Chem AG, an automated chemical synthesis systems and services provider headquartered near Zurich, Switzerland. The acquisition adds Synple's automation technology and a virtual compound library of more than 7 trillion tractable compounds to eMolecules' existing offering, expanding its capabilities as a one-stop shop for compound procurement, management and automation for drug discovery customers.

Adelis Equity Partners has taken a majority, controlling stake in IonOpticks, a fast-growing developer and manufacturer of high-performance chromatography solutions for LC‑MS proteomics. The founders and management are co-investors; the investment will fund IonOpticks' global expansion, product development, and support future acquisitions as the company scales its commercial footprint.

PD Theranostics, a Lucius Partners portfolio company, has completed a merger with Ovation.io to create a multiomics data company that combines Ovation's population-scale biobank with PDTx's high-dimensional imaging and multiomic platform. The combined business will link sequencing, imaging, and longitudinal clinical data to accelerate biomarker and target discovery for drug development and clinical research.

Leinco Technologies, a portfolio company backed by Ampersand Capital Partners, has acquired Genovis-owned QED Biosciences to expand its catalog of antibodies, recombinant proteins and IVD raw materials. The deal transfers Genovis' antibody business to Leinco and strengthens Leinco's antibody development and IVD support capabilities for research and diagnostics customers worldwide.

VION Biosciences, the life-science platform backed by Iron Path Capital, has acquired Ansh Labs, an immunoassay development and reagent manufacturer based in Houston, Texas. The add-on expands VION's diagnostics capabilities — adding GMP IVD manufacturing and ISO 13485 certification — and broadens the platform's product and service offerings for clinical diagnostics, research, and pharmaceutical development.

VION Biosciences, the life-science platform backed by Iron Path Capital, has acquired Salt Lake City-based Echelon Biosciences, a specialist supplier of lipid-based excipients and lipid nanoparticles. The add-on strengthens VION's capabilities in lipid synthesis and lipid nanoparticle technology to support mRNA and gene-therapy development and advances the platform toward drug manufacturing while keeping Echelon’s leadership and operations intact.

Crown Laboratories, a Hildred Capital portfolio company, completed the acquisition of Revance Therapeutics through a cash tender offer that expired February 4, 2025; the transaction closed on February 6, 2025 and Revance will be delisted from Nasdaq. The deal brings together Crown's skincare and consumer brands with Revance's DAXXIFY, RHA dermal fillers and other aesthetics/therapeutic offerings to expand product portfolio and commercialization capabilities across medical, retail and e-commerce channels.

Novo Holdings has invested £50 million in UK-listed Oxford Nanopore Technologies via an equity issue and intends to make further share purchases in the secondary market. The investment is intended to support Oxford Nanopore's commercial growth and capability expansion in biopharmaceutical and biomanufacturing markets.

Genezen has acquired uniQure's commercial gene therapy manufacturing operations and licensed viral-vector facility in Lexington, Massachusetts. The deal (funded in part by growth equity from Ampersand Capital Partners) transfers a commercially licensed AAV-capable manufacturing site and team to Genezen and includes strategic supply agreements to support uniQure's clinical portfolio and CSL Behring's commercial HEMGENIX product.

Partners Group has acquired a majority stake in FairJourney Biologics from GHO Capital; GHO will reinvest as a minority investor and founder António Parada remains invested. The transaction will further capitalise FairJourney to expand its antibody discovery and development capabilities, scientific leadership and global footprint.

1315 Capital, a Philadelphia-based healthcare-focused growth equity firm, made a significant equity investment in Primrose Bio to support development and commercial expansion of Primrose’s nucleic acid and protein manufacturing technologies. The funding will accelerate commercialization of the company’s Prima RNApols, Pfenex expression system, and PeliCRM carrier protein for therapeutics and vaccines.

Novo Holdings A/S agreed to acquire an approximately 60% controlling stake in Single Use Support, a Kufstein, Austria-based life science tools company specializing in fluid management, single-use consumables and cold-chain solutions for bioprocessing. The two founders will each retain 10% and Danaher will retain 20%; the investment is intended to support Single Use Support's next phase of global growth, particularly expansion into the US and Asia, and is subject to regulatory approvals.

Century Therapeutics agreed to acquire privately held Clade Therapeutics for approximately $35 million in upfront consideration (plus a potential $10 million milestone) to expand its iPSC-derived cell therapy pipeline and next-generation Allo-EvasionTM platform. Concurrently, Century completed a roughly $60 million private placement led by Bain Capital Life Sciences and several institutional investors to support expanded autoimmune development of its lead program CNTY-101 and extend cash runway into 2026.

Maverix Medical, a lung cancer platform backed by Ajax Health, KKR, and Hologic, has acquired Cirrus Bio to form the foundation of a new diagnostics division, Maverix Dx. Cirrus Bio's multiomic diagnostic capabilities and its founders, David Mallery (CEO) and Scott Morris (CSO), will lead Maverix Dx as the platform pursues further diagnostic product development and M&A.

Ampersand Capital Partners, a healthcare-focused private equity firm, has acquired Biologos LLC, a Glendale Heights, Illinois-based manufacturer of custom and standard cell culture media, reagents, buffers, enzymes, and sera. Ampersand will invest to expand Biologos' capabilities, product offerings, and geographic reach, and has appointed Frank Witney as Chairman with two Ampersand principals joining the board.

Eilean Therapeutics LLC acquired Ness Therapeutics Inc in an all-equity transaction to obtain Ness’s preclinical PTPN2 inhibitor program. The acquisition expands Eilean’s immuno-oncology pipeline and capabilities in small-molecule inhibitors targeting resistance mechanisms in hematologic and solid malignancies.

Syncona, through a wholly owned Bidco subsidiary, will acquire all remaining shares of Freeline Therapeutics for $6.50 per ADS in a take-private transaction. Freeline shareholders overwhelmingly approved the scheme; the deal is expected to become effective after UK court sanctioning and will result in Freeline delisting from Nasdaq to allow private development of its gene-therapy programs.

Biovian and 3P Biopharmaceuticals have combined under their common shareholder Keensight Capital to form 3PBIOVIAN, a pan‑European biologics CDMO offering end‑to‑end development and manufacturing across microbial and mammalian protein expression, viral vectors, cell therapy and plasmid DNA. The combined group will operate sites in Pamplona‑Noáin (Spain) and Turku (Finland), maintain a commercial office in Boston, and employ over 500 professionals with gross sales above €75m; ERES IV (advised by Elyan Partners) and Sodena will remain minority shareholders alongside Keensight.

Oxitope Pharma and Arxx Therapeutics have merged to form Calluna Pharma and completed a €75 million Series A financing backed by Forbion, Sarsia, p53 and Investinor. The combined company, led by CEO John Montana, will develop a pipeline of selective antibodies targeting inflammatory and fibrotic diseases, advancing multiple clinical and preclinical programs.

EQT, via its newly launched EQT Healthcare Growth Strategy, is acquiring Swedish immunoassay specialist Mabtech AB from IK Partners and Mérieux Equity Partners. Mabtech, a developer and manufacturer of antibodies, kits and readers used in vaccine, infectious disease and oncology research, will be supported by EQT to expand its product portfolio and accelerate geographic growth, particularly in the US. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and financial terms were not disclosed.

Concentra Biosciences, a vehicle controlled by Tang Capital Partners, has entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire clinical-stage biotech Theseus Pharmaceuticals for $3.90–$4.05 per share in cash plus a contingent value right tied to future program licensing/disposition proceeds. The transaction will be effected by a tender offer and is expected to close in February 2024, subject to customary conditions and the availability of required cash at closing.

Windjammer Capital Investors completed a control acquisition of Bio X Cell, a producer of monoclonal antibodies for pre-clinical research, in a transaction that closed November 6, 2023. Windjammer said it will partner with management to accelerate organic growth and pursue a thesis-driven acquisition strategy to expand Bio X Cell's addressable market.