Date: 2015-11-25
Type of information: Company acquisition
Acquired company: Biopta (UK)
Acquiring company: Reprocell (Japan)
Amount: undisclosed
Terms:
- • On November 25, 2015, Reprocell has announced the acquisition of the Scottish life sciences company, Biopta. The acquisition of Biopta and its US subsidiary, Biopta Inc. is expected to complete on the 10th of December. Biopta will continue to operate from its headquarters in Glasgow. The deal will see ReproCELL acquire 100% of Biopta, which has received investment from Braveheart Investment Group, TriCapital, the Scottish Investment Bank, the investment arm of Scottish Enterprise and individual investors.
Details:
- Reprocell is a Japanese group operating in the field of stem cells and regenerative medicine. The company is developing stem cell technologies. Many of its technologies were developed by the stem cell pioneers, Prof. Norio Nakatsuji from the Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences, Kyoto University, and Prof. Hiromitsu Nakauchi from The Institute of Medical Sciences, The University of Tokyo.
- This acquisition Biopta is aimed at strengthening Reprocell’s pharmaceutical industry-targeted drug discovery services. The acquisition will also see an immediate investment to expand Biopta’s range of contract research services. Biopta aims to grow its workforce to 30 over the next three years
- Biopta was spun out of Glasgow Caledonian University in 2002 by its co-founders, Dr David Bunton, its CEO, and Professor Chris Hillier, with the aim of addressing the high failure rate of drugs during clinical trials through the use of ethically-sourced human tissues. Biopta has developed a network of clinical partners in the UK and USA which provide human tissue samples for its research into diseases such as asthma, Crohn’s disease and psoriasis.
Related: Technology - Services
Is general: Yes
