DIJON, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regulatory News:
ONCODESIGN (FR0011766229 - ALONC) (Paris:ALONC), a biopharma company dedicated to the precision medicine, is announcing an agreement to acquire Bertin Pharma’s metabolism, pharmacokinetics, bioanalysis and translational medicine service activities. The agreement becomes unconditional today.
This deal covers the transfer of a team of 46 highly qualified multidisciplinary employees to support the proprietary or third-party discovery and development of new drugs in areas such as immunology and infectious diseases. The scope of the transfer includes capacity to study the absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of therapeutic molecules (ADME), regulated bioanalysis, and centralized biobanking to manage biological samples, both with and without the risk of infection.
The acquisition will be funded by a bank loan. PK/PDesign, a newly formed wholly-owned subsidiary, will hold the new activities acquired within the Oncodesign group.
In 2016, the business acquired by Oncodesign generated EBITDA of €0.8 million on revenues of €5.3 million. The activities acquired, currently conducted at four sites (Saclay, Fontenay aux Roses, Marcoule and Orléans) will all be pooled at Oncodesign’s Les Ulis facility in the short to medium term. Oncodesign thus plans to strengthen significantly its presence at the Paris-Saclay platform.
Furthermore, the Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique (CEA) is a longstanding partner of Bertin Pharma. Indeed, teams at the Saclay, Fontenay aux Roses (IDMIT) and Marcoule sites are housed in CEA facilities and are integrated with its research teams. Oncodesign intends to step up its cooperation with the CEA as a research partner, and this will be facilitated by the Group’s presence at the Paris-Saclay platform.
In addition to the scientific and technical staff, sales and marketing teams will strengthen Oncodesign’s capabilities. Xavier Morge, Bertin Pharma’s Chief Executive Officer, has been appointed Oncodesign’s Head of Business Development and Marketing. Xavier gained a PhD in pharmacy (University of Paris XI) and holds an MBA (IAE Paris). He co-founded SPI-Bio within the CEA, and served as its Chief Executive Officer. He kept this role when SPI-Bio joined Bertin Technologies, then Bertin Pharma in 2010 as part of the CNIM group, doubling its global sales.
“Along the same lines as the acquisition from GSK of the François Hyafil research center in 2016, and following the completion of its integration within our organization, this deal will strengthen our core Experimentation activity and expand our new service offerings. It establishes us as a key player in integrated drug discovery services, a promising new market for Oncodesign”, said Philippe Genne, Chairman & CEO of the Oncodesign group. “Bertin Pharma’s activities have achieved a strong reputation in the pharmaceutical industry, owing to the quality of the work they do and their ability to innovate. Their culture is similar to that of Oncodesign, and we are delighted to add this experienced and engaged human capital. In addition, Xavier Morge’s track record of success at Bertin Pharma’s helm bodes very well for the future development of Oncodesign’s international revenue base, as Oncodesign’s new integrated solutions arrive on the market.”
“The team and I are both very excited about and highly motivated by our move to the Oncodesign group. Our specialist preclinical and clinical activities at Bertin Pharma dovetail perfectly with Oncodesign’s own range of services, which we intend to roll out for big pharma customers and the fastest-growing biotech players. All Bertin Pharma’s employees are highly motivated by the goal of discovering and developing new drugs and helping to build further on Oncodesign’s unique leadership in precision medicine”, added Xavier Morge, Oncodesign’s Head of Business Development and Marketing.
About ONCODESIGN: www.oncodesign.com
Founded over 20 years ago by Dr Philippe Genne, the Company’s CEO and Chairman, Oncodesign is a biopharma company dedicated to the precision medicine. With its unique experience acquired by working with more than 600 clients, including the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, along with its comprehensive technological platform combining state-of-the-art medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, regulated bioanalysis and medical imaging, Oncodesign is able to predict and identify, at a very early stage, each molecule's therapeutic usefulness and potential to become an effective drug. Applied to kinase inhibitors, which represent a market estimated at over $46 billion in 2016 and accounting for almost 25% of the pharmaceutical industry’s R&D expenditure, Oncodesign’s technology has already enabled the targeting of several promising molecules with substantial therapeutic potential, in oncology and elsewhere, along with partnerships with pharmaceutical groups such as Bristol-Myers Squibb and UCB. Oncodesign is based in Dijon, France, in the heart of the town’s university and hospital hub, and within the Paris-Saclay cluster, Oncodesign has 215 employees and subsidiaries in Canada and the USA.
1 Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion
