Tag Archives: life Science

Biosynth Names Matt Gunnison as CEO, Kieran Murphy Appointed as Chairman

Ampersand

Biosynth Names Matt Gunnison as CEO, Kieran Murphy Appointed as Chairman

Staad, Switzerland, November 6th 2024 – Biosynth, a global supplier of critical raw materials and services to the life sciences industry, today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Matt Gunnison as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors, effective immediately. The Board has also appointed Kieran Murphy as Chairman, effective as of the same date.

Matt Gunnison will succeed Urs Spitz, under whose guidance Biosynth has achieved remarkable growth and strengthened its position in the life sciences sector. Urs Spitz will remain a member of the Board of Directors.

“We are grateful to Urs for his significant contributions in shaping Biosynth into the innovative and thriving company it is today. We are now excited to welcome Matt as CEO, whose vision and extensive experience will be pivotal in leading the company through its next chapter.” said Kugan Sathiyanandarajah, Partner at KKR and Head of Europe for KKR’s Health Care Strategic Growth strategy.

“I am thrilled to join Biosynth at such an exciting time in its journey. The company has built a strong foundation under Urs’s leadership, and I look forward to working with the talented team to further accelerate our growth and innovation. Together, we will continue to deliver critical raw materials and services that drive advancements in the life sciences and make a real impact on global health outcomes.” said Matt Gunnison.

“It’s a privilege to be appointed Chairman of Biosynth. I am excited to work alongside Matt and the entire team as we chart the course for the company’s continued growth. Biosynth is at the forefront of innovation in the life sciences industry, and I am confident we have the right leadership and vision to drive our success forward.” said Kieran Murphy.

“I’m immensely proud of what Biosynth has accomplished. I would like to congratulate Matt and Kieren on their new roles and wish them, along the whole Biosynth team, great success in the years ahead. I look forward to continuing to support them in my role on the Board as they lead Biosynth into this new chapter,” said Urs Spitz.

Matt currently serves as CEO of Gamma Biosciences, a life sciences investment platform that he co-founded with leading global investment firm KKR. He brings nearly two decades of experience in the healthcare and life sciences industries. At Gamma, Matt oversaw the acquisition and management of a portfolio of growth stage businesses serving the biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry. Prior to Gamma, he served in various positions at GE Healthcare, most recently as head of corporate development for the $19B division of General Electric Co. Matt holds a B.A. in Economics from Georgetown University and a J.D. from the University of Michigan.

Kieran currently serves as a senior advisor to KKR and will transition to Biosynth from Gamma Biosciences, where he has served as Chairman since 2022. He brings decades of corporate leadership and board experience in healthcare and life sciences, including as former President and CEO of GE Healthcare and Whatman plc.

Joining Matt and Kieran as Head of Corporate Development for Biosynth is Eric Simpson, previously Vice President at Gamma Biosciences.

About Biosynth

Biosynth is a supplier of critical materials, securing life science supply chains with global research, manufacturing, and distribution facilities. Supplying the pharmaceutical and diagnostic sectors; where Chemistry meets Biology, Products meet Services and Innovation meets Quality, Biosynth is at the Edge of Innovation. With an unrivaled research product portfolio of over a million products and end-to-end manufacturing services, Biosynth’s expertise and capability runs across Complex Chemicals, Peptides, and Key Biologics, all from one trusted partner. Headquartered in Staad, Switzerland, Biosynth is owned amongst others by KKR, Ampersand Capital Partners and management. Find out more about Biosynth at Biosynth.com.

About KRR

KKR is a leading global investment firm that offers alternative asset management as well as capital markets and insurance solutions. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and supporting growth in its portfolio companies and communities. KKR sponsors investment funds that invest in private equity, credit and real assets and has strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR’s insurance subsidiaries offer retirement, life and reinsurance products under the management of Global Atlantic Financial Group. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds and insurance subsidiaries. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com. For additional information about Global Atlantic Financial Group, please visit Global Atlantic Financial Group’s website at Globalatlantic.com.

About Ampersand

Ampersand Capital Partners, founded in 1988, is a middle-market private equity firm with $3 billion of assets under management, dedicated to growth-oriented investments in the healthcare sector. With offices in Boston, MA, and Amsterdam, Netherlands, Ampersand leverages a unique blend of private equity and operating experience to build value and drive long-term performance alongside its portfolio company management teams. Ampersand has helped build numerous market-leading companies across each of the firm’s core healthcare sectors. For additional information, visit Ampersandcapital.com or follow Ampersand on LinkedIn.

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Actylis Announces Appointment of Scott Thomson as Chief Executive Officer

New Mountain Capital

Company Continues Expansion of Integrated Global Specialty Ingredients Manufacturing and Sourcing Strategy

PORT WASHINGTON and NEW YORK, NY [BUSINESS WIRE] – Actylis, a leading global manufacturer and sourcing expert of critical materials and performance ingredients for the life sciences and specialty chemicals markets, today announced the appointment of Scott Thomson as Chief Executive Officer. Scott has a three-decade track record in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries, most recently as CEO of SPI Pharma, a leading global provider of pharmaceutical ingredients, systems and services, where he helped lead the sustainable improvement of its strategic development and execution. Prior to SPI Pharma, Scott was a senior executive at BASF and was responsible for several global life science and specialty ingredients businesses.

“Scott has an impressive tenure of driving long-term growth, and we look forward to welcoming Scott as we bring our client-centric, flexible customer service model and extensive product offerings to an increasing number of geographies, customers and applications,” said Rakesh Sachdev, Chairman of Actylis. “We also want to thank Gilles Cottier for his leadership as CEO of Actylis over the last five years and wish him well in his retirement.”

Joe Walker, Managing Director at New Mountain Capital, said, “Since New Mountain’s investment in 2019, Actylis has transformed into a leading manufacturer and distributor of key ingredients in pharma, biopharma, nutritional, agri-science, cosmetics and specialty chemicals markets, completing seven acquisitions and substantially expanding the company’s global reach. We are excited for Scott to leverage and accelerate Actylis’ strong growth trajectory with increasing emphasis on high growth end markets and products.”

Andre Moura, Managing Director at New Mountain Capital, added, “Actylis has tremendous runway for sustainable growth due to its strong value proposition and market positioning. We are thrilled to invest further and support Scott and the management team to realize the company’s long-term strategic vision.”

Actylis offers standard and custom ingredients through a rapidly growing portfolio of GMP and non-GMP facilities worldwide, as well as through the company’s strong sourcing partner network. Actylis’ hybrid manufacturing and global sourcing model for ingredients and raw materials delivers the most flexible and reliable solutions for its customers’ unique manufacturing requirements, supported by industry-leading standards of quality documentation and regulatory compliance.

Scott Thomson, CEO of Actylis, commented, “I feel privileged to lead the Actylis team at this exciting juncture, and I look forward to partnering with our customers, Actylis’ management and employees, and New Mountain to grow and further develop Actylis’ offerings. There is significant opportunity to accelerate the company’s growth and I look forward to building upon the company’s achievements to date both organically and inorganically.”

About Actylis

Actylis is a leading global manufacturer and sourcing expert of critical materials and performance ingredients for the life sciences and specialty chemicals markets. Actylis has a presence in 10 countries spanning three continents and offers more than 4,000 products supported by over 800 employees. Actylis has more than 75 years of manufacturing and sourcing experience across both GMP and non-GMP facilities and offers customers the flexibility to choose from a wide range of individualized solutions, all backed by the same world-class quality, supply chain reliability and regulatory expertise. Its capabilities encompass the entire R&D, product development and manufacturing spectrum, including technical sales support, R&D, manufacturing and production, quality, supply chain, global sourcing, and regulatory compliance. Actylis serves pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, nutritional, cosmetics, agri-science and specialty chemical end markets. The company is headquartered in Port Washington, New York. https://actylis.com/

About New Mountain Capital

New Mountain Capital is a New York-based investment firm that emphasizes business building and growth, rather than debt, as it pursues long-term capital appreciation. The firm currently manages private equity, credit and net lease investment strategies with approximately $50 billion in assets under management. New Mountain Capital seeks out what it believes to be the highest quality growth leaders in carefully selected industry sectors and then works intensively with management to build the value of these companies. For more information on New Mountain Capital, please visit https://www.newmountaincapital.com/.

Media Contact:

Actylis

Paul Staunton

pstaunton@actylis.com

New Mountain Capital

Dana Gorman

H/Advisors Abernathy

dana.gorman@h-advisors.global

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Sands Capital’s Pulse Fund III Secures $555M Close

Sands Capital

The Life Sciences Pulse strategy partners with private companies helping transform how diseases are defined, diagnosed, and treated.

Sands Capital is pleased to announce the close of our third life sciences fund, Sands Capital Life Sciences Pulse Fund III (“Pulse III”), raising $555 million. Pulse III was met with high demand from both existing and new limited partners. This close increases total Pulse strategy capital commitments to $1.3 billion, including Sands Capital Life Sciences Pulse Fund (“Pulse I”) and Sands Capital Life Sciences Pulse Fund II (“Pulse II”). The team will continue investing with the same emphasis on private therapeutics, diagnostics, medical devices, and life sciences tools businesses, in support of the strategy’s mission to help transform how diseases are defined, diagnosed, and treated.

“The life sciences sector continues to innovate at a rapid pace, leading to breakthroughs that benefit both patients and society as a whole.”

“The life sciences sector continues to innovate at a rapid pace, leading to breakthroughs that benefit both patients and society as a whole,” said Stephen Zachary, Managing Partner. “We are grateful to both the investors joining us in Pulse III and the talented management teams we’ve partnered with since the strategy’s inception.”

The Pulse investment team comprises senior professionals led by founders, operators, PhDs, and experienced investors with the ability to leverage the resources and capabilities of the entire firm to execute its strategy. The team also draws upon Sands Capital’s more than three decades of deep research and experience investing in innovation in public markets.

Disclosures:

As of October 1, 2021, Sands Capital was redefined to be the combination of Sands Capital Management, LLC and Sands Capital Ventures. Both firms are registered investment advisers with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in accordance with the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. The two registered investment advisers are combined to be one firm and are doing business as Sands Capital. Sands Capital operates as a distinct business organization, retains discretion over the assets between the two registered investment advisers, and has autonomy over the total investment decision-making process.

This communication is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer, invitation, or recommendation to buy, sell, subscribe for, or issue any securities. The material is based on information that we consider correct, and any estimates, opinions, conclusions, or recommendations contained in this communication are reasonably held or made at the time of compilation. However, no warranty is made as to the accuracy or reliability of any estimates, opinions, conclusions, or recommendations. It should not be construed as investment, legal, or tax advice and may not be reproduced or distributed to any person.

The activities of the Life Sciences Pulse Team, including investment due diligence and sourcing, may be supported on an ad hoc basis by various members of the broader global research team of Sands Capital Management. Please refer to the biographies of the Life Sciences Pulse Strategy Team members. Members of the Life Sciences Pulse team also provide services with respect to other strategies of Sands Capital.

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Ingersoll Rand to Acquire ILC Dover to Expand Presence in Life Sciences

New Mountain Capital

DAVIDSON, N.C.– March 25, 2024 — (BUSINESS WIRE)– Ingersoll Rand Inc. (NYSE:IR), a global provider of mission-critical flow creation and industrial solutions, has entered into an agreement to acquire ILC Dover (“ILC”) from New Mountain Capital, LLC, a leading growth-oriented investment firm with approximately $50 billion in assets under management. The deal includes an upfront cash purchase price of approximately $2.325 billion and an earnout tied to the achievement of select operating efficiency metrics in 2024. At its maximum payout, the earnout increases the 17x upfront purchase multiple by less than one turn.

ILC is a world-leader in the design and production of highly innovative solutions for biopharmaceutical, pharmaceutical, and medical device markets as well as a leading supplier for the space industry. ILC has a 75-year heritage of innovation and commitment to expanding its product portfolio of mission-critical applications. ILC serves its global customer base across 11 engineering and production facilities located in North America, Europe, and Asia, with more than 2,000 team members.

In connection with this acquisition, Ingersoll Rand will establish a life sciences platform within its P&ST segment, consisting of ILC plus Ingersoll Rand’s life science-focused brands including Thomas, Welch, Zinsser Analytic, Tricontinent, Air Dimensions, and ILS. Corey Walker, ILC President and CEO, will lead the life sciences platform and join the Ingersoll Rand leadership team, reporting to Vicente Reynal, chairman and chief executive officer. This platform will have approximately $700 million in revenue and will enable Ingersoll Rand to further focus its growth and investment in life sciences, a key strategic area for the company. Current P&ST segment leader Santiago Arias Duval will continue to report to Reynal and lead a second platform within P&ST consisting of the remaining P&ST businesses, which represent approximately $1 billion in revenue.

“This acquisition is the next phase of our long-term vision to expand into higher-growth end markets like life sciences. I am incredibly excited to partner with Corey and the outstanding team at ILC, whom we’ve admired for their innovative products and decades of experience in life sciences, to enhance our presence in key workflows and applications,” said Vicente Reynal, Ingersoll Rand chairman and CEO. “We see many opportunities to leverage ILC’s established market positions and brands, including the ability to attach Ingersoll Rand’s existing liquid handling technologies and positive displacement pumps to ILC’s single-use solutions in key biopharma and pharma production processes. Through ILC, we will get access to approximately 1,000 customers in the broader life science and healthcare sectors, where we can leverage our demand generation capabilities to drive incremental growth in other Ingersoll Rand product lines like compressors. Working together, we will continue to drive sustained growth, lead customer value and innovation, and maximize value creation.”

“I am very proud of our team’s passion for innovation, commitment to world-class quality, and overall dedication to our customers during a period of rapid growth,” said Corey Walker, ILC president and CEO. “I’m excited to combine the Ingersoll Rand and ILC Life Science portfolio of products that allow us to serve our customers from the discovery phase in the laboratory to the commercial production of life saving therapies. ILC Dover’s direct channel access coupled with Ingersoll Rand’s proven growth and efficiency tools will allow us to accelerate our ability to serve customers across their workflows.”

“Since we acquired ILC in early 2020, we have made substantial investments to support and drive growth. ILC significantly increased its manufacturing capabilities and cleanroom capacity while also driving meaningful operational initiatives to better serve its customers,” said Andre Moura, managing director at New Mountain Capital. “We would like to thank Corey Walker and his management team for the successful partnership. Under Corey’s leadership, the business materially expanded its product set, including its portfolio of flexible, single-use solutions for sterile and aseptic manufacturing processes. We see a strong fit between Ingersoll Rand and ILC, and we are confident that Ingersoll Rand is the right partner for its next stage of growth.”

This acquisition is immediately accretive to Ingersoll Rand’s growth and margin rates. ILC’s revenue has grown at a mid-teens CAGR organically over the last three years and is expected to reach almost $400 million in revenue in 2024E, with mid-30s Adjusted EBITDA margins. Through the deployment of Ingersoll Rand Execution Excellence (IRX) and organic growth enablers like Demand Generation Excellence (DGX), Ingersoll Rand expects to achieve a ROIC in the high single digits by year three of its ownership. This acquisition is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to close in Q2 2024.

Advisors

Kirkland & Ellis LLP is serving as legal counsel to Ingersoll Rand. Jefferies LLC and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC are serving as financial advisors and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is serving as legal counsel to ILC Dover and New Mountain Capital.

About Ingersoll Rand Inc.

Ingersoll Rand Inc. (NYSE:IR), driven by an entrepreneurial spirit and ownership mindset, is dedicated to Making Life Better for our employees, customers, shareholders, and planet. Customers lean on us for exceptional performance and durability in mission-critical flow creation and industrial solutions. Supported by over 80+ respected brands, our products and services excel in the most complex and harsh conditions. Our employees develop customers for life through their daily commitment to expertise, productivity, and efficiency. For more information, visit www.IRCO.com.

About New Mountain Capital

New Mountain Capital is a New York-based investment firm that emphasizes business building and growth, rather than debt, as it pursues long-term capital appreciation. The firm currently manages private equity, credit and net lease investment strategies with approximately $50 billion in assets under management. New Mountain seeks out what it believes to be the highest quality growth leaders in carefully selected industry sectors and then works intensively with management to build the value of these companies. For more information on New Mountain Capital, please visit https://www.newmountaincapital.com/.

Forward-Looking Statements

These forward-looking statements are based on Ingersoll Rand’s current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ materially from these current expectations. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those indicated or anticipated by such forward-looking statements. The inclusion of such statements should not be regarded as a representation that such plans, estimates or expectations will be achieved. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such plans, estimates or expectations include, among others, (1) adverse impact on our operations and financial performance due to natural disaster, catastrophe, global pandemics, geopolitical tensions, cyber events, or other events outside of our control; (2) unexpected costs, charges or expenses resulting from completed and proposed business combinations, including the proposed acquisition of ILC; (3) uncertainty of the expected financial performance of the Company; (4) failure to realize the anticipated benefits of completed and proposed business combinations, including from the proposed acquisition of ILC; (5) the ability of the Company to implement its business strategy; (6) difficulties and delays in achieving revenue and cost synergies from the proposed acquisition of ILC; (7) inability of the Company to retain and hire key personnel; (8) evolving legal, regulatory and tax regimes; (9) changes in general economic and/or industry specific conditions; (10) actions by third parties, including government agencies; (11) uncertainties as to if or when the conditions to closing the proposed acquisition of ILC will be satisfied; (12) potential business uncertainty as a result of changes to existing business relationships that could affect Ingersoll Rand’s or ILC’s financial performance and operating results; and (13) other risk factors detailed in Ingersoll Rand’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), as such factors may be updated from time to time in its periodic filings with the SEC, which are available on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. The foregoing list of important factors is not exclusive.

Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release. Ingersoll Rand undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or developments, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of these forward-looking statements.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Included in this press release are certain non-GAAP financial measures designed to supplement, and not substitute, the financial information provided in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) in the United States of America because management believes such measures are useful to investors. Reconciliations of non-GAAP measures related to 2024 guidance have not been provided due to the unreasonable efforts it would take to provide such reconciliations due to the high variability, complexity and uncertainty with respect to forecasting and quantifying certain amounts that are necessary for such reconciliations, including net income (loss) and adjustments that could be made for acquisitions-related expenses, restructuring and other business transformation costs, gains or losses on foreign currency exchange and the timing and magnitude of other amounts in the reconciliation of historic numbers. For the same reasons, we are unable to address the probable significance of the unavailable information, which could have a potentially unpredictable, and potentially significant, impact on our future GAAP financial results.

Ingersoll Rand Investor Relations:
Matthew.Fort@irco.com

Ingersoll Rand Media:
Sara.Hassell@irco.com

New Mountain Capital Media:
Dana Gorman
H/Advisors Abernathy
dana.gorman@h-advisors.global

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PerkinElmer Acquires Covaris to Create an Innovation-Led, Global Life-Sciences and Diagnostics Platform

New Mountain Capital

SHELTON, CT, December 4th, 2023 – PerkinElmer, a leading global analytical services and solutions provider, today announced that it has acquired Covaris, a leading developer of solutions to empower life science innovations. The merger will accelerate Covaris’ growth potential and expand PerkinElmer’s existing life sciences portfolio into the high-growth diagnostics end market. Both companies are majority owned by New Mountain Capital, and terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

As precision medicine gathers pace for personalized disease treatment and prevention, Covaris is ideally positioned to help enable and accelerate the next generation of life sciences innovation, especially through its Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) capability, for efficient, reproducible and high-throughput sample preparation and data analysis. Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Woburn, Massachusetts, Covaris is a global leader in the development and deployment of end-to-end solutions for high-throughput genomic and proteomic analysis, including instruments, consumables, and reagents. Covaris’ solutions empower customers to accelerate the pace of research and drug discovery for clinical diagnostics, biopharma, and research markets globally.

“Covaris has a well-defined growth strategy with market-leading technologies and a very capable leadership team that will allow PerkinElmer to deepen its life sciences portfolio in the diagnostics end market. We see significant growth opportunities resulting from the combined resources of both companies, with PerkinElmer’s global scale unlocking commercial opportunities for Covaris”, said Dirk Bontridder, CEO of PerkinElmer.

“We are excited to begin our new chapter as part of PerkinElmer, an exceptional brand that resonates in our core markets, and will allow us to bring our technology to more customers and expand our growth globally. Our two cultures are very similar and both our customers as well as our employees will benefit from strong R&D resources and complementary solution capabilities”, said Annemarie Watson, CEO of Covaris.

Andre Moura, Managing Director at New Mountain Capital, said, “The combination of PerkinElmer and Covaris will bring significant benefits to the customers, employees, and stakeholders of both companies. Covaris will now have access to PerkinElmer’s global reach, technical and operating capabilities to continue its rapid growth trajectory. Covaris’ strong position in the genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics space brings an exciting new growth vector to PerkinElmer.  We look forward to continuing to work with management to build the combined company.”

About PerkinElmer

PerkinElmer is a global analytical services and solutions provider with offerings including the leading OneSource Field and Laboratory services business that serve the biopharma, food, environmental, safety and applied end markets to accelerate scientific outcomes. Since 1937, PerkinElmer has served as a trusted partner in laboratory analysis and management and today complements its service offerings with a broad portfolio of atomic spectroscopy, molecular spectroscopy, and chromatography instruments, consumables, and reagents. With a dedicated team of more than 6,000 team members, the Company serves customers in more than 35 countries. Additional information is available at www.perkinelmer.com.

About Covaris

Covaris develops, manufactures, and markets instruments, consumables, and reagents used in pre-analytical sample preparation for genomic and proteomic analysis to help accelerate the pace of research and life science innovations. Using proprietary technologies including focused acoustic energy, Covaris’ tools achieve highly accurate and reproducible results with the goal of empowering customers to make new discoveries, develop new assays and improve bioanalytical results. Some of the non-contact applications include faster automated DNA fragmentation, cell lysis, accelerated binding partner mixing, bead resuspension, and compound formulation. Additional information about Covaris is available at www.covaris.com.

About New Mountain Capital

New Mountain Capital is a New York-based investment firm that emphasizes business building and growth, rather than debt, as it pursues long-term capital appreciation. The firm currently manages private equity, credit and net lease investment strategies with over $45 billion in assets under management. New Mountain seeks out what it believes to be the highest quality growth leaders in carefully selected industry sectors and then works intensively with management to build the value of these companies. For more information on New Mountain Capital, please visit www.newmountaincapital.com.

Media Contact:

PerkinElmer

Markus Leutert, VP Corporate Communications

+44 7447 03 44 16

Email: markus.leutert@perkinelmer.com

 

New Mountain Capital

Dana Gorman / Matthew Butler

H/Advisors Abernathy

212-371-5999

Email: dana.gorman@h-advisors.global / matthew.butler@h-advisors.global

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CellFE secures $22 million in Series A financing

M Ventures

CellFE secures $22 million in Series A financing to advance microfluidics-based cellular engineering platform

Financing led by M Ventures, with participation from GreatPoint Ventures, Riverine Ventures and existing investors Cota Capital, Dynamk Capital, Elm Street Ventures, Embark Ventures, EGB Capital and Khosla Ventures.

ALAMEDA, Calif., Sept. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — CellFE Inc., www.cellfebiotech.com, a life sciences tools company developing a microfluidics-based cell engineering platform dedicated to transforming the development and manufacturing of advanced cell therapies, today announced the completion of a $22 million Series A financing led by M Ventures, with participation from Great Point Ventures and Riverine Ventures as well as existing investors Cota Capital, Dynamk Capital, Elm Street Ventures, Embark Ventures, EGB Capital, and Khosla Ventures.

The continued clinical and commercial success of advanced biologic therapeutics, such as engineered cell and gene therapies, is driving substantial growth opportunities in this emerging segment of life sciences. Therapy developers are forging partnerships with technology providers, such as CellFE, to advance innovative solutions, with the aim to benefit patients seeking better therapeutic options. CellFE’s innovative, non-viral, microfluidic cell engineering platform, Infinity MTx™ system, performs complex genetic cell editing through streamlined, advanced workflows. The platform ensures gentle cell treatment, rapid cell recovery, and superior yield of healthy cells, enabling unparalleled scalability and significant time and cost efficiencies in development and manufacturing. CellFE empowers therapy developers to accelerate the ongoing evolution of advanced cell therapies across a spectrum of therapeutic areas, unlocking a groundbreaking shift towards true decentralized and point-of-care manufacturing in the cell therapy sector. The launch of the Infinity MTx system at the recent ASGCT 2023 Annual Meeting elicited broad interest from top innovative cell therapy developers globally.

With our clear path to help redefine cell therapy manufacturing, we are excited to have the backing of such esteemed investors who recognize the potential of our technology and the strength of our team

Alla Zamarayeva, CEO of CellFE

“Our vision of advancing the platform to a decentralized and point of care application will expand access to cell therapies for millions of patients.” “While viral cell engineering methods have been dominating the industry to date, high costs, limited editing capabilities, regulatory hurdles, and safety concerns are driving a shift to non-viral methods. CellFE presents a unique technology platform addressing key industry pain points across viral, but also other non-viral methods,” said Christian Uhrich, Principal at M Ventures. “Offering efficient, flexible, and consistent payload delivery, superior cell health, user-friendly workflows, and process scalability from development to manufacturing, we believe the company offers a compelling value proposition for the increasing number of therapy developers seeking novel solutions. We are delighted to join the company that Alla and the CellFE team have built at this exciting time and to support the company’s future development, growth, and overall vision.”

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EQT Life Sciences closes Dementia Fund at the hard cap

eqt
  • The LSP Dementia Fund has held its final close at approximately EUR 260 million, at the hard cap and above its original target fund size of EUR 100 million
  • Investors include the Alzheimer’s Association, the European Investment Fund, several global pharmaceutical companies, and insurance companies, amongst other
  • The Fund aims to bring new treatments to patients suffering from Dementia, which is one of the greatest healthcare challenges of our time
  • Led by Professor Philip Scheltens, one of the world’s leading experts on dementia, the LSP Dementia Fund further strengthens EQT’s position as one of the leading and most active private markets investors in the healthcare sector

EQT Life Sciences has held the final close of its inaugural LSP Dementia Fund (“the Fund”), raising approximately EUR 260 million in fee-generating assets under management, meeting the hard cap and surpassing the target fund size of EUR 100 million. The fund is dedicated to investing in companies that are developing breakthrough drug therapies and medical technologies across the spectrum of neurodegenerative diseases.

Dementia is the greatest health challenge of our time: there are 54 million patients with the disease worldwide, and without significant time and investment in battling the disease, this number is predicted to triple by 20501. Despite the graveness of the situation, investment in dementia research and development is substantially lower compared to other major healthcare challenges such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, and cardiovascular disease. The LSP Dementia Fund has been created to help bridge this gap by advancing breakthrough dementia innovation to bring new drugs to patients, while simultaneously seeking to generate strong financial returns for its investors.

The LSP Dementia Fund investment team is led by Philip Scheltens, MD, PhD, professor emeritus at Amsterdam University Medical Center and one of the world’s most renowned dementia researchers, having (co)authored over 1100 scientific publications. The other partners in the investment team are Felice Verduyn-van Weegen, MBA, Cillian King, PhD, and Arno de Wilde, MD, PhD, MBA. The team is supported by the expertise and network of EQT Life Sciences, which has over 30 years of investing experience and closed its flagship LSP 7 fund at over EUR 1 billion in fee-generating assets under management in 2022. It will also become an integral part of EQT’s Healthcare sector platform, further strengthening EQT’s global expertise in the sector and ability to support companies from venture-stage to mature, market leaders.

The Fund is supported by a broad range of investors including the Alzheimer’s Association, the world’s largest charity and advocacy organization in the field, insurance companies, the European Investment Fund, and several global pharmaceutical companies – including from Asia and the US – which underlines the industry’s interest in European life sciences venture opportunities. Other investors include endowments, foundations, and other private wealth investors.

The Fund intends to invest in 10 to 15 companies in total. Having made its first investment in NewAmsterdam Pharma (Nasdaq: NAMS), which focuses on cardiovascular and Alzheimer’s disease, in January 2021, the fund has since invested in four companies: Muna Therapeutics (Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease), AviadoBio (Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) and Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)), Nobi (smart care solutions in nursing homes) and QurAlis (FTD and ALS).

Prof. Philip Scheltens, Partner and Head of the LSP Dementia Fund commented: “The final close marks the end of a very successful fundraising journey in which we have experienced strong interest and commitment. This gives us the confidence to invest in groundbreaking science and entrepreneurship, which this field so urgently needs. I am very proud to be leading such an experienced team of neuroscientists and investors and being part of an organization with such a high standing in the field of life sciences.”

Dr. René Kuijten MD, PhD, MBA, Partner and Head of EQT Life Sciences, said: “EQT Life Sciences aims to improve patient’s lives by supporting the development of breakthrough therapies. We strongly believe that neurodegenerative diseases are the next big challenge after oncology and cardiovascular diseases. With this fund, EQT Life Sciences is now in a strong position to support companies at the cutting-edge of battling this disease.”

Michael Bauer, Partner and Co-Head of EQT’s Global Healthcare sector team, concluded: “EQT is already one of the world’s most active and leading healthcare investors and the close of this fund further strengthens this position. From the earliest stages all the way through to global market leaders, EQT has the experience, expertise, and firepower to support companies in every phase of their development.”

Notes to Editors

The LSP Dementia Fund is a Dutch fund managed by a Dutch AIFM.

[1]Source: Prince, M. Prina, M & Guerchet, M. The Global Impact of Dementia: 2013 – 2050. Alzheimer’s disease international.

Contact
Prof Dr. Philip Scheltens, Partner and Head of the LSP Dementia Fund, philip.scheltens@eqtpartners.com

EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334

About EQT
EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization with EUR 113 billion in assets under management within two business segments – Private Capital and Real Assets. EQT owns portfolio companies and assets in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas and supports them in achieving sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

More info: www.eqtgroup.com
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About EQT Life Sciences
EQT Life Sciences was formed in 2022 following the integration of LSP, a leading European life sciences venture capital firm, into the EQT platform. As LSP, the firm raised over EUR 3.0 billion and supported the growth of more than 150 companies since it started to invest over 30 years ago. With a dedicated team of highly experienced investment professionals coming from backgrounds in medicine, science, business, and finance, EQT Life Sciences backs the smartest inventors who have ideas that could truly make a difference for patients. The team combines deep sector knowledge, analytical skills, and investment experience to provide the added value that inventors seek.

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Wugen Announces CEO Transition

Abingworth

— Kumar Srinivasan Ph.D., M.B.A., Appointed President and Chief Executive Officer —

ST. LOUIS, MO and SAN DIEGO, CA, March 21, 2023 –Wugen, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a pipeline of allogeneic cell therapies to treat a broad range of hematological and solid tumor malignancies, today announced that Kumar Srinivasan Ph.D., M.B.A., has been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer, effective March 13, 2023. Dr. Srinivasan succeeds Dan Kemp, Ph.D., who has stepped down from his CEO role and the Board of Directors to pursue other opportunities.

“We are delighted to welcome Kumar as Wugen’s next CEO and look forward to leveraging his global leadership, deep expertise in the biopharmaceutical industry, and strong track record of success in company building, corporate strategy, and business development. Under his leadership, the company will be well-positioned to advance our differentiated platform of memory NK and allogenic CAR-T therapies for patients,” said Natalie Mount, Ph.D., Chair of the Board of Directors at Wugen. “We’d like to thank Dan for his leadership and contributions to the company over the past two years and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.”

“I am thrilled to be joining Wugen at this exciting time for the company,” said Dr. Srinivasan. “Wugen has made incredible strides advancing treatments for cancer patients. I look forward to working with Wugen’s talented team as CEO and to continue to execute on our lead clinical-assets, WU-NK-101 and WU-CART-007. Wugen’s memory NK cell and allogenic CAR-T cell therapies have the potential to improve patient outcomes by helping to address the needs of patients with solid tumors, acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and T-cell malignancies.”

Dr. Srinivasan has over 25 years of experience leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies through critical stages of growth, M&A activity, and new product launches. Most recently, he served as executive vice president and chief business officer at Turning Point Therapeutics. Under his leadership, Dr. Srinivasan successfully executed a partnering strategy for reprotrectinib that ultimately led to the acquisition of the company by Bristol Myers Squibb. Before Turning Point Therapeutics, Dr. Srinivasan was vice president and global head of business development for the Biopharmaceuticals business unit at AstraZeneca, where he was instrumental in leading several in-licensing deals that significantly enhanced the strength of the company’s pipeline, established several high priority collaborations, and led all global and regional COVID-19 related business development efforts. Earlier in his career, he held corporate strategy and business development roles at Probiodrug AG, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, and TorreyPines Therapeutics. Dr. Srinivasan holds an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago, a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Case Western Reserve University, and a dual B.S./M.S. in chemistry from the University of Madras.

About Wugen

Wugen, Inc., is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing the next generation of off-the-shelf memory natural killer (NK) and CAR-T cell therapies for cancer. Wugen is leveraging its proprietary MonetaTM platform and deep genomic engineering expertise to pioneer a new class of memory NK cell therapies to treat hematological and solid tumor malignancies. For more information, please visit www.wugen.com.

Investor Contact:
Elsie Yau, Stern Investor Relations, Inc.
212-698-8700
elsie.yau@sternir.com

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PerkinElmer Completes Divestiture of Its Applied, Food and Enterprise Services Businesses

New Mountain Capital

Transforms into New Life Sciences and Diagnostics Company

WALTHAM, Mass., March 13, 2023 – (BUSINESS WIRE) – PerkinElmer Inc. (NYSE: PKI), today announced that it has successfully completed the previously announced divestiture of its Applied, Food and Enterprise Services businesses to New Mountain Capital, a growth-oriented investment firm.

The resulting new, high-growth Life Sciences and Diagnostics business, focused on developing and delivering novel scientific breakthroughs that will have a profound impact on improving global health, will share the PerkinElmer name with the Applied, Food and Enterprise Services businesses until a new name, brand and ticker symbol is unveiled in Q2 2023 pending shareholder approval.

“Today marks the culmination of the hard work and dedication from PerkinElmer teams around the world to ensure that both new companies are in a position to succeed on day one,” said Prahlad Singh, president and chief executive officer of the PerkinElmer Life Sciences and Diagnostics company. “As we look ahead, our new Life Sciences and Diagnostics organization has an immense opportunity to continue to lead with science to redefine human health. I’m looking forward to sharing our new name and brand in the near future.”

The Company’s two core business areas, Life Sciences and Diagnostics, are uniquely positioned to help drive scientific innovation impacting human health. Within Life Sciences, the Company is focused on supporting pharmaceutical and academic scientific advancement from the earliest stage of discovery all the way to entering the clinic. In Diagnostics, the Company continuously develops new assays, systems, and complete workflows to help better diagnose disease throughout the continuum of care of human health across all lab settings.

“We would like to thank the entire team at PerkinElmer for all the hard work to get to today’s closing,” added Andre Moura, Managing Director at New Mountain Capital. “We look forward to partnering with the new PerkinElmer business New Mountain acquired to drive continued growth and innovation for the benefit of all stakeholders including the company’s customers, employees and other business partners.”

Factors Affecting Future Performance

This press release contains “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, statements relating to estimates and projections of future earnings per share, cash flow and revenue growth and other financial results, developments relating to our customers and end-markets, and plans concerning business development opportunities, acquisitions and divestitures. Words such as “believes,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “expects,” “estimates”, “projects,” “forecasts,” “will” and similar expressions, and references to guidance, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on management’s current assumptions and expectations and no assurances can be given that our assumptions or expectations will prove to be correct. A number of important risk factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results described, implied or projected in any forward-looking statements. These factors include, without limitation: (1) markets into which we sell our products declining or not growing as anticipated; (2) the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on our sales and operations; (3) fluctuations in the global economic and political environments; (4) our failure to introduce new products in a timely manner; (5) our ability to execute acquisitions and divestitures, license technologies, or to successfully integrate acquired businesses and licensed technologies into our existing business or to make them profitable, or successfully divest businesses; (6) our ability to compete effectively; (7) fluctuation in our quarterly operating results and our ability to adjust our operations to address unexpected changes; (8) significant disruption in third-party package delivery and import/export services or significant increases in prices for those services; (9) disruptions in the supply of raw materials and supplies; (10) our ability to retain key personnel; (11) significant disruption in our information technology systems, or cybercrime; (12) our ability to realize the full value of our intangible assets; (13) our failure to adequately protect our intellectual property; (14) the loss of any of our licenses or licensed rights; (15) the manufacture and sale of products exposing us to product liability claims; (16) our failure to maintain compliance with applicable government regulations; (17) regulatory changes; (18) our failure to comply with healthcare industry regulations; (19) economic, political and other risks associated with foreign operations; (20) our ability to obtain future financing; (21) restrictions in our credit agreements; (22) discontinuation or replacement of LIBOR; (23) significant fluctuations in our stock price; (24) reduction or elimination of dividends on our common stock; and (25) other factors which we describe under the caption “Risk Factors” in our most recent annual report on Form 10-K and in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We disclaim any intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this press release.

About The PerkinElmer Life Sciences and Diagnostics Company

The PerkinElmer Life Sciences and Diagnostics company – which is to be renamed during the second quarter of 2023 – provides end-to-end solutions that help scientists, researchers and clinicians better diagnose disease and discover new and more personalized drugs. Its dedicated team of 11,000 collaborates closely with commercial, government, academic and healthcare customers to deliver reagents, assays, instruments, automation, informatics and strategic services that accelerate workflows, deliver actionable insights and support improved decision making. The Company is also deeply committed to good corporate citizenship through dynamic ESG and sustainability programs. The Company reported revenues of approximately $3.3 billion in 2022, serves customers in 190 countries, and is a component of the S&P 500 index.

About New Mountain Capital

New Mountain Capital is a New York-based investment firm that emphasizes business building and growth, rather than debt, as it pursues long-term capital appreciation. The firm currently manages private equity, credit, and net lease real estate funds with over $37 billion in assets under management. New Mountain seeks out what it believes to be the highest quality leaders in carefully selected “defensive growth” industry sectors and works intensively with management to build the value of these companies. Additional information about New Mountain Capital is available at https://www.newmountaincapital.com/.

Contacts

Investor Relations:
Steve Willoughby
(781) 663-5677
steve.willoughby@perkinelmer.com

Media Relations:
Chet Murray
(781) 663-5719
chet.murray@perkinelmer.com

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Altor acquires majority of VTU and partners with management

Stockholm/Vienna, 17/02/2023 – Altor Funds (“Altor”) have signed an agreement to acquire a majority in VTU Group GmbH (“VTU”), a leading Life Sciences and Green Transition process engineering company, from funds advised by DPE Deutsche Private Equity Management III GmbH. VTU’s management will reinvest in the Company.  Altor will support VTU’s strategy to become a European leader in high value-added process engineering services for Life Sciences industries and a sector specialist in Green Transition process engineering.  The closing is subject to regulatory approval.

 

Founded in 1990 in Graz, Austria, VTU is a process engineering company servicing blue-chip customers in the Life Sciences and Fine Chemicals industries as well as in Green Transition projects in existing and emerging industries. The Company provides quality services for its customers along the whole value-chain of their investment projects: from project development, design, high-end digitalisation to project management as an integrated part of VTU’s services for structurally growing industries. VTU is an EPCMv provider (Engineering, Procurement, Construction Management and Validation) with more than 1,200 employees across Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Poland, Romania, and Belgium.

 

In 2022, VTU reported annual revenues of approx. 175 million Euros. Over more than a decade, VTU has grown revenues and its employee base by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 20 percent.  

 

Dr. Friedrich Fröschl, CEO at VTU Group, said: “We were deeply impressed by the Altor partnership approach from the outset: an entrepreneurial mindset, with curiosity, creativity, and sustainability at the core of its DNA. We are convinced that Altor is a perfect match for VTU Group as we embark on the next phase of VTU’s success story. We are very excited to working together with the Altor team and create sustainable value for our customers, employees and allstakeholders.“

 

Giovanna Maag, Partner at Altor, said: “We are excited to invest in VTU and looking forward to partnering with its strong and experienced management team. The Company builds on very strong foundations: it has advanced process engineering capabilities, a reputation for quality, long-standing and trusted relationships with numerous blue-chip clients in the Life Sciences sector and provides process engineering know-how for Green Transition applications.” 

  

The investment in VTU marks Altor’s fifth acquisition in the DACH region. Currently, Altor is invested in Zahneins (dental practices), oceansapart (athleisure), Käfer (industrial services),  and Kommunalkredit (financial services; closing pending).

The Altor investment in VTU is another example for the firm’s investment strategy that puts a strong emphasis on partnering with companies with compelling sustainability agendas. Examples for this approach are H2GreenSteel (green steel powered by green hydrogen), OX2 (one of Europe’s leading developers of renewable energy sources) and Trioworld (circular plastics), amongst others.   

 

 

 

About Altor

Since inception, the family of Altor funds has raised EUR 8.3 billion in total commitments. The funds have invested in more than 85 companies. The investments have been made in medium sized predominantly Nordic companies with the aim to create value through growth initiatives and operational improvements. Among current and past investments are Carnegie, C WorldWide, Sbanken, OX2, H2 Green Steel, Vianode and Svea Solar.

For more information visit www.altor.com

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