CRAIGAVON, Northern Ireland—Almac Group, a global contract development and manufacturing organization, announced in November the acquisition of 100 percent of the shares of BioClin Laboratories, an independent and privately owned organization based in Athlone, Ireland.
Established in 2002 and located just two hours away from Almac Group’s headquarters in Northern Ireland, BioClin is, Almac noted, internationally recognized for providing expert analytical services, including cGMP pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical analysis, GMP microbiology testing and GLP bioanalysis. The company also boasts Ireland’s leading GLP-certified (INAB), cGMP-certified (HPRA) and FDA-registered contract laboratory.
BioClin’s bespoke 14,000-square-foot facility significantly increases Almac’s analytical capacity and “perfectly complements its existing business, enabling strategic expansion and greater ability to serve clients’ needs globally,” according to Almac. The acquisition will see BioClin’s analytical experts join Almac Sciences’ network of almost 600 employees across multiple sites in Europe and North America.
Almac also recently completed significant expansion of its existing analytical facilities at its global headquarters site in Northern Ireland with the creation of a new, bespoke MHRA-approved laboratory.
News of the acquisition came mere days after announcing an expansion of Almac-owned Arran Chemical Co., also based in Athlone, which substantially increased Almac’s manufacturing capacity for fine chemicals, pharmaceutical intermediates and advanced building blocks.
“We are delighted to announce this acquisition demonstrating further commitment to strategic growth and development of our global business,” said Dr. Stephen Barr, managing director of Almac Sciences. “Adding BioClin’s highly complementary analytical capacity and technical expertise to our existing capabilities, we are able to broaden our service offerings and address our global clients’ growing demands for a high-quality, integrated, efficient service. We look forward to working with the BioClin team and plan to invest significantly in this facility.”
Mary Burke, managing director at BioClin Laboratories, commented: “We are very pleased to join Almac. With our shared values for outstanding quality, expertise and innovation we see this as an excellent strategic fit for BioClin, enabling us to expand and deliver an enhanced range of analytical solutions to an international client market.”
