LYON, France, & WALTHAM, Mass.—Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has announced the completed acquisition of Henogen S.A., Groupe Novasep SAS’ viral vector manufacturing business in Belgium, for approximately €725 million in cash.
“Novasep’s viral vector business is an excellent strategic fit as Thermo Fisher continues to expand its capabilities for cell and gene vaccines and therapies globally,” stated Michel Lagarde, executive vice president of Thermo Fisher. “The addition of their manufacturing capabilities in Europe complements our four development and manufacturing sites in North America. In addition, they bring an incredibly talented team with more than two decades of experience across a broad range of viral vectors. The combination will benefit our global customers seeking support and capacity in the region, as well as European customers bringing new medicines to patients inside and outside of Europe.”
Novasep’s viral vector manufacturing business provides contract manufacturing services for vaccines and therapies to biotechnology companies and large biopharma customers. With two locations in Seneffe and Gosselies, Henogen offers more than 7,000 square meters of clinical and commercial manufacturing capacity. The business has around 400 employees with substantial operational and technical expertise in a broad range of viral vector classes, and an estimated 2020 revenue of €80 million (approximately $95 million).
“Thermo Fisher is an outstanding partner for our viral vector business and its future development. Our diverse customer base will benefit from the combination of our viral vector services capabilities with the scale and capabilities of Thermo Fisher,” added Michel Spagnol, president and CEO of Novasep. “Our talented employees will bring deep expertise to an organization that shares our commitment to providing ground-breaking new medicines to patients.”
Henogen will become part of ThermoFisher’s Pharma Services business, within the Laboratory Products and Services Segment.
This isn’t the only acquisition Thermo Fisher has made in recent days. At the tail end of December, Thermo Fisher acquired Phitonex, Inc. — a Durham, North Carolina-based company which has created a spectral dye platform for high-resolution biology applications. The dye platform, called the “Phiton,” has applications in research and development for cell therapy, immuno-oncology, and immunology.
“Phitonex’s platform is a natural extension of Thermo Fisher’s existing tools for protein and cell analysis applications. Combining this new technology with our existing portfolio and expertise in this space will unlock the Phiton platform’s great potential, and deliver unparalleled flow cytometry performance so our customers can gain more valuable insights from a single cell and expedite discovery,” noted Peter Silvester, senior vice president and president of life sciences solutions at Thermo Fisher, in a press release.
The acquisition of Phitonex will enable Thermo Fisher to offer greater flow cytometry and imaging multiplexing capabilities. The Phiton platform acts as a structure that can maintain a higher number of fluorescent dyes in very specific ways, allowing researchers to analyze single cells in high resolution. With the ability to rapidly create a multitude of different dye labels, research teams can significantly increase the number of proteins and cell populations that can be identified in a single flow cytometry experiment.
