Arlington Capital Partners bought Millstone around one year ago and, following a similar playbook to other private equity firms that have entered the biopharma service space, outlined plans to grow its new investment through strategic acquisitions. Those plans have come to fruition in recent weeks.
The latest deal sees Millstone, a US provider of post-manufacturing and aftermarket services, buy the Rhode Island-based Ethide Labs. Founded in 1960, Ethide Labs has established itself as a provider of drug and device regulatory testing services.
Ethide Labs’ capabilities include ethylene oxide residual, microbiology, bioburden, sterility, and package integrity testing. Gordon Auduong, a principal at Arlington Capital Partners, outlined how buying the business fits into Millstone’s strategy.
“We were highly impressed with Ethide’s broad set of testing capabilities as well as its firm commitment to the highest quality standards. Alongside Millstone’s acquisition of MycoScience earlier this month, the acquisition of Ethide demonstrates Millstone’s success in adding testing services to its pre-existing broad range of services,” Auduong said.
Millstone expects the acquisition of Ethide Labs to enhance its range of specialty precision testing services and strengthen its Tier 1 end-to-end expert sourcing and support services. Ethide Labs provides its services out of an ISO 13485:20160-certified, FDA-compliant testing lab that is staffed by scientists who are active members of the American Society for Microbiology.
Millstone is combining its two recent acquisitions, Ethide Labs and MycoScience, to form Millstone Testing Services, a new division that will offer product, packaging, and environmental testing for the medical device and pharmaceutical industries.
“With these acquisitions and the longstanding expertise they bring to the Millstone family of companies, we can offer our customers enhanced support and a broader range of testing services, with a single expert point of contact,” said Millstone CEO Karl Neuberger. “The more advanced and thorough post-manufacturing and aftermarket services we can offer our customers, the more we can support them in creating and accelerating products that change patients’ lives.”