Amatsigroup buys Q Biologicals in 'fragmented' EU bio-services space

27-Jan-2016 - Last updated on 27-Jan-2016 at 16:29 GMT

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French CDMO Amatsigroup will offer complete biologics development services and expand its European presence through the acquisition of Q Biologicals.

Toulouse, France-based Amatsigroup has bought Belgian contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) Q Biologicals for an undisclosed fee, and according to CEO Alain Sainsot the merged entity will now be able to offer end-to-end biologics process development and manufacturing services.

“Q Biologicals is going to complete our offer with Bioprocess technical knowhow & increased capacities in Biomanufacturing & control,” he told Biopharma-Reporter.com.

“It will be closely linked with our state of the art Fill & Finish manufacturing line of injectables. With this acquisition, we are now able to offer a complete and mastered development service in large molecules.”

Q Biologicals has been operating out of Ghent, Belgium since 2011 and offers process development and biomanufacturing services for biopharmaceuticals including recombinant proteins, antibodies, vaccines and living cells. The firm has a turnover of around €4m ($5m) and a headcount of 20, who will be incorporated into Amatsigroup’s bioprocessing division AmatsiQBiologicals.

Euro-centric and fragmented market

The deal will also serve to expand Amatsigroup’s geography, Sainsot told us.

“Q Biologicals with its location at the heart of Europe is also strategic to increase our development opportunities within a close vicinity of dynamic Northern Europe markets such as Germany, UK or Switzerland.”

Such expansion is necessary for the firm, he added, as Europe is a key region for outsourced services in biological development and is also a territory with a strong network of innovative biotechs companies.

Moreover, the acquisition places Amatsigroup in a strong position in what Sainsot described as “a very fragmented market,” containing a mix of pure contract testing laboratories, CDMOs and even CROs with analytical/ manufacturing capabilities.

“Through this acquisition, we will enhance our portfolio of services for the development in Europe of Large Molecules, from early phases, combining our recognized AmatsiGroup expertise to the fantastic technological know-how that will be brought in through Q-Biological integration.”