Sartorius Stedim Biotech entered into an agreement to acquire the chromatography process equipment division of Novasep. The parties agreed not to disclose the purchase price until the necessary regulatory approvals have been obtained.
Novasep’s division expects to generate sales revenue of approximately Euros 37 million in 2020 at double-digit profit margins and employs approximately 100 people, the majority of whom work at its Pompey site in northern France and some in the U.S., China, and India. The proposed transaction is expected to close during the first half of 2021.
Novasep’s chromatography unit comprises resin-based batch and intensified chromatography systems, and primarily focuses on high-pressure, multi-use applications for smaller molecules, such as oligonucleotides, peptides, and insulin. Since 2018, Novasep and Sartorius Stedim Biotech have been collaborating in the joint development of an optimized system for a membrane-based, low-pressure chromatography that processes larger molecules more productively and will be launched soon.
“I am pleased that we will intensify our successful collaboration with the Novasep team, soon to be under the Sartorius Stedim Biotech roof,” said René Fáber, PhD, member of the board of directors of Sartorius Stedim Biotech. “The Novasep portfolio will perfectly complement our existing chromatography offering and allow us to provide customers with more options for their manufacturing processes. Efficient downstream processing has remained a challenge in our industry for years, and Sartorius Stedim Biotech is committed to helping accelerate and simplify this crucial step so that new drugs can be manufactured much more efficiently.”
