$300-million cash deal finalizes the transfer of Aptuit from private-equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe.

Germany-based drug discovery and development company Evotec, has finalized the purchase of Connecticut-based pharmaceutical services company Aptuit, an ~$300 million-deal that was initially announced in July 2017. Evotec is paying cash for Aptuit, some from existing cash reserves and some from debt financing obtained at attractive terms, according to the company. 

Services offered by Aptuit include preclinical testing and the contract manufacture of both drug substances and drug products. Specifically, Aptuit is providing integrated outsourced drug discovery and development solutions, including “a complete set of integrated early discovery to mid-phase drug development services, including INDiGO^®, an integrated and highly efficient process to IND submission, complemented by high-end integrated CMC” services.

In addition to its headquarters in the US, Aptuit has manufacturing facilities located in Verona, Italy; Basel, Switzerland; and Oxford, UK. In 2016 the company had revenues of approximately $104 million and employed just over 700 people, who completed more than 1000 projects for over 400 customers that year.

For Evotec, the acquisition of Aptuit is a means for expanding its business and enhancing its capabilities as an integrated provider of drug discovery and development services. “This acquisition adds considerable business opportunities to further accelerate Evotec's long-term strategy to be the industry partner of choice for external innovation,” the company said in a press release.

As part of Evotec, Aptuit will continue to operate in all its existing segments and serve its existing customers under the established company organization, but all employees and capabilities will be integrated into Evotec's global drug discovery group. This arrangement will allow Evotec to create the “premier drug discovery and development innovation partner leveraging both companies' extensive partner networks, platforms and maximizing commercial synergies,” according to Evotec.

"The acquisition is a significant step forward in our vision to lead services for external innovation and to build a co-owned pipeline,” said Werner Lanthaler, Chief Executive Officer of Evotec. “This business combination strengthens Evotec's position to lead the megatrend of external innovation. We warmly welcome the Aptuit employees to the Evotec Group and look forward to working with them,” he added.

Mario Polywka, Chief Operating Officer of Evotec, further commented: "We are pleased the acquisition has closed so quickly and we can now approach the exciting phase of welcoming the Aptuit employees and delivering our expanded offering to all our clients. Through this transaction, Evotec transforms itself from the premier innovation-led drug discovery company, delivering historically along the value chain and stopping at the PDC, the pre-clinical development candidate, to the premier drug discovery and development company delivering an end-to-end set of capabilities under one roof to seamlessly move into the clinic and beyond. Together with Aptuit, we will build global centers of excellence for external innovation for our partners and customers."

Image Courtesy of Evotec.