Quotient BioResearch, the UK-based company established early last year to provide analytical and safety evaluation services and products to the bioscience and sports sectors, has notched up its fourth acquisition in the form of BioDynamics Research.
Founded in 1992 as a spin-out from Cardiff University in Wales, BioDynamics provides metabolism, bioanalytical and radiochemistry services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries worldwide. The company has a staff of 100 and annual revenues of over £7 million (€9.33 million). The acquisition price was not disclosed.
Quotient has set out to build a major presence in the drug development services market and BioDynamics marks its third acquisition in the field over the last 12 months.
The other two were HFL, the forensic laboratory business of the UK’s Horseracing Betting Levy Board, but also a leading provider of bioanalytical and biomarker testing services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors; and GR Micro, which offers microbiology and molecular biology services to the same sectors worldwide. Quotient’s acquisition trail has also included Alba Bioscience, a supplier of diagnostic reagents, mainly for blood typing.
The enlarged group will have revenues of more than £35 million and some 350 employees in the UK, operating from sites in Newmarket, Rushden, London and Edinburgh. Further acquisitions are on the cards, “with a view to offering clients a broader, unified range of services”, Quotient said.
In line with these plans, the company’s drug development services businesses will start trading under the Quotient name from May 2008, while its sports testing and research businesses will continue to trade as HFL. The diagnostic reagents business will continue trading under the Alba Bioscience name.
Paul Cowen, chairman and chief executive officer of Quotient BioResearch, said BioDynamics “brings with it a worldwide reputation and complements extremely well the drug development capabilities of our existing businesses in this area, HFL and GR Micro”.
Quotient has experienced “considerable growth in demand for the drug development services we offer,” he added. “The combination with BioDynamics will allow Quotient BioResearch to both increase capacity and extend the range of services it offers for the benefit of its clients. We will be making major investments at both BioDynamics and Quotient BioResearch to further underpin our commitment to meeting the current and future requirements of our clients.”
Before founding Quotient, Cowan was chief financial officer of Inveresk Research Group. He left Inveresk in 2004 following its sale to Charles River Laboratories.
