Buyout Set to Secure Position of CRO in Life Sciences Discovery
A strategic reorganisation of its business divisions announced by precision measurement company Spectris last October, has led to its former contract research organisation Concept Life Sciences being acquired by Limerston Capita.
An established CRO primarily serving the global research and development market, the company offers expertise in drug discovery and early development through to API manufacturing at multi kilogram scale under good manufacturing practice (GMP), which can be delivered as a single service or as part of wider discovery and development programmes.
Underlining its commitment to remaining at the front of its sector, Concept Life Sciences has invested signifi cantly in its capabilities since 2020 and developed world class biology facilities in oncology and immunology. Its team of around 300 accomplished scientists and over 100 PhDs operate from fi rst class laboratory facilities, strategically located in major science hubs across the UK, in Dundee, Edinburgh, Derbyshire, Sandwich (Kent) and Bradford.
Ben Cliff
Newly appointed CEO, Dr Ben Cliff, will head a dynamic senior leadership team, with responsibility for a new growth strategy targeting expansion of its services to a new and existing client base. Having been with the organisation for fi ve years, his leadership experience covers all aspects of the business including operations, sales and marketing, quality and strategic development.
Limerston Capital is a private equity fi rm targeting UK businesses with EBITDA of between £5 million and £15 million. It partners with management
teams to help build them into industry leaders through buy- and-build and operational transformation.
“Limerston Capital will be an excellent partner for our business, allowing us much greater commercial and technical focus so we can realise the company’s true potential and deliver the high value service our customers depend on to support their R&D activities,” said Dr Cliff. “As well as the benefi t of providing additional investment, Limerston Capital’s fully-integrated and dedicated operational and investment team will be invaluable to support the carve-out and accelerate our growth.”
Jane Grewar, Senior Operating Partner of Limerston Capital, added: “We see enormous potential for the Concept Life Sciences business which is well positioned to benefi t from high growth in the CRO market, with its strong pipeline of high-value, rapidly-growing services and a focus on highly
invested therapeutic areas. The company’s excellent track record, highly- skilled team of scientists and industry-leading facilities, particularly in the high-growth areas of immunology, oncology and infl ammation, make it a very attractive investment for Limerston Capital. We’re excited to be partnering with such a capable team.”
More information online:
ilmt.co/PL/NZ44 60169pr@reply-direct.com
Collaborative Program to Investigate Mechanisms of Metastasis
3DSecret-chip, for the reproducible and controlled formation of 3D spheroids from single cancer cells. Subsequent multi-parametric analysis of the datasets will incorporate Raman spectroscopy, DNA and RNA sequencing as well as AI modelling, to identify cells causing metastasis and underlying patterns.
INL’s Dr Sara Abalde-Cela, 3DSecret Project Coordinator commented: “The 3DSecret project, besides having the potential to unlock hidden mechanisms behind metastasis, will provide bleeding tech breakthrough developments to the fi elds of microfl uidics, single-cell studies, sequencing and AI applied to health.”
Sara Albade-Cela Frank Craig
Single cell analysis systems developer Sphere Fluidics has joined the 3DSecret partnership, a four-year research project funded through the European Innovation Council’s (EIC) Pathfi nder Open 2022, established under Horizon Europe and the EU’s key funding program for research and innovation.
Coordinated by the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), the consortium has been awarded €3.4 million and aims to develop novel technologies to investigate the stochastic patterns behind metastasis at the single-cell level, to predict cancer evolution.
Bringing together multidisciplinary experts in microfl uidics, nanosensors, artifi cial intelligence (AI), cell genomics and transcriptomics from Portugal, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom, Sphere Fluidics’ patented picodroplet technology will support development of an integrated microfl uidic device, the
Dr Frank F Craig, CEO, Sphere Fluidics, said: “The anticipated technical and scientifi c discoveries within the 3DSecret program hold great potential to revolutionise the diagnosis and treatment of cancer by taking a radical bottom-up holistic approach: from cancer single-cells to 3D spheroids. Following funding, we’re now excited to get started on the project and initiate the collaboration amongst consortium members, which will be key to 3DSecret’s hopeful breakthrough. Through our involvement, we are further demonstrating the scope of applications our technology can support to facilitate cutting-edge biotherapeutic discovery and development.”
The EIC has a budget of €10.1 billion to support game-changing innovations, from early-stage research through to proof-of-concept, technology transfer and the fi nancing and scale-up of start-ups and SMEs. Funding was awarded to 3DSecret in October 2022 and the project will run to the end of 2026. Partners include Universidade de Vigo, Fondazione Bruno Kessler, 2CA Braga, Tecnalia Research Innovation and Sphere Fluidics:
ilmt.co/PL/VoKk
More information online:
ilmt.co/PL/Z4lz 60329pr@reply-direct.com
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