Horizon Discovery Group plc Acquires Sage Labs Inc. for $48 Million (£29 Million)
Horizon Discovery Group has agreed to acquire Sage Labs for up to $16 million (£9.8 million) in cash and up to $32 million (£19.6 million) through the issue of new ordinary shares. The acquisition of Sage, a world leader in the generation of advanced in vivo transgenic disease models for use in preclinical research, builds upon the acquisition of CombinatoRx in July and makes Horizon the world’s leading gene-editing company and the go-to company for the provision of integrated product, service and research solutions at all stages of translational genomics and personalized medicine research from sequence to treatment.
The acquisition, which is in line with the stated strategy to build a fully-integrated life science business, provides Horizon with an expanded range of genetically engineered preclinical models, important tools for the discovery and development of medicines targeted to the unique genetic drivers of diseases like cancer. The combined gene-editing platform diversifies Horizon’s overall product and service offerings into adjacent markets not currently addressed, increases its cost consolidation and cross selling potential as well as strengthens its intellectual property portfolio. Sage also provides Horizon with long-term organic innovation opportunities and deep customer relationships within the industry which complement Horizon’s existing business lines.
Sage, a former business within Sigma-Aldrich, was known as Sigma Advanced Genetic Engineering and became Sage Labs Inc. when it was purchased by management and Telegraph Hill Partners in 2013. Sage has benefitted from in excess of $25 million of past investment. The company has 50 employees, a direct US and EU sales force and 43,000 sq. ft. state of the art facilities, enabling the scale-up of Horizon’s product and service offerings through access to new capabilities, capacity and access to new markets.
Horizon will gain exclusive access to ZFN for in vivo model generation and certain exclusive and non-exclusive CRISPR in vivo-related intellectual property (IP) to add to its extensive in vitro IP in CRISPR, ZFN and rAAV, the latter of which is a world-wide exclusive to Horizon. Assets and capabilities acquired include a custom engineered in vivo model development service, an inventory of ready to use in vivo models and an inventory of molecularly annotated patient-derived xenograft (PDx) models and custom development capabilities.
Horizon will focus on expanding Sage’s predominantly US customer base by increasing its presence in Europe, Japan and beyond via access to Horizon’s business development and commercial infrastructure and an almost 1000 strong customer base.
The acquired business will be known as Sage Labs Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Horizon Discovery Group plc. Horizon will also benefit from adding further strong leadership capability to its world-class management team. Successful serial entrepreneur Dr David Smoller, formerly CEO of Sage, and previously CSO of Sigma-Aldrich and President of its Research Biotechnology business unit, will become Horizon’s Chief Business Officer. Along with Dr Darrin M. Disley, CEO of Horizon, David will lead the implementation of the long-term corporate development strategy. Dr Edward Weinstein will become General Manager of Sage and will lead a team with decades of experience in preclinical model development and commercialisation.
The acquisition is expected to complete on 2 October 2014.
Dr Darrin M Disley, CEO of Horizon Discovery Group, commented: “The acquisition positions Horizon as the world-leader in gene-editing and at the forefront of technological advances in the field of translational genomics. The consolidated offering significantly strengthens Horizon commercially, allowing us to offer product, service and R&D programs to customers engaged at every stage of translational genomics and personalized medicine research from sequence to treatment.”
Dr David Smoller, CEO of Sage Labs Inc., added: “I am excited that Sage has become a part of Horizon’s important mission. Horizon is now the destination for researchers and scientists worldwide to find both in vivo and in vitro solutions to their biological questions. The addition of Sage now positions Horizon as the true leader in genomics and gene-editing.”
Related News
-
News Patients vs Pharma – who will the Inflation Reduction Act affect the most?
The Inflation Reduction Act brought in by the Biden administration in 2022 aims to give better and more equitable access to healthcare in the USA. However, pharma companies are now concerned about the other potential costs of such legislation. -
News CPHI Podcast Series: What does the changing US Pharma market mean for industry and patients alike?
In this week's episode of the CPHI Podcast Series Lucy Chard, Digital Editor for CPHI Online is joined by James Manser to discuss the political and market changes in the US pharma field. -
News CPHI Barcelona Annual Report illuminates industry trends for 2024
The CPHI Annual Survey comes into it’s 7th year to report on the predicted trends for 2024. Over 250 pharma executives were asked 35 questions, with their answers informing the industry landscape for the next year, spanning all major pharma marke... -
News Which 10 drugs are open to price negotiation with Medicare in the USA?
The Centres for Medicare & Medicaid Services, under the Biden administration in the USA, has released a list of the 10 drugs that will be open to price negotiations as part of the new legislation under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). -
News EU Medical Devices Regulation causes unintended disappearances of medical devices for children, doctors state
Doctor groups and associations have appealed to the EU to correct the EU Medical Devices Regulation law that may cause unintended shortages of essential drug and medical devices for children and rare disease patients. -
News 10 Major Drug Approvals So Far in 2023
Last year, 37 novel drugs were approved by the FDA, this was a high number for such a category, and covered many fields including oncology, demonstrating how promising further research is, and how it is only continuing to build. To date, there are alre... -
News Detecting Alzheimer's disease with a simple lateral flow test
A novel rapid diagnostic test for early-stage Alzheimer's disease has been developed using a biomarker binder from Aptamer Group along with technology from Neuro-Bio, the neurodegenerative disease experts. -
News CPHI Podcast Series: outsourcing and manufacturing trends
Listen to the CPHI Podcast Series this June to hear Gil Roth of the PBOA speak with Digital Editor Lucy Chard about the biggest trends and topics to watch in pharma outsourcing and manufacturing at the minute.
Position your company at the heart of the global Pharma industry with a CPHI Online membership
-
Your products and solutions visible to thousands of visitors within the largest Pharma marketplace
-
Generate high-quality, engaged leads for your business, all year round
-
Promote your business as the industry’s thought-leader by hosting your reports, brochures and videos within your profile
-
Your company’s profile boosted at all participating CPHI events
-
An easy-to-use platform with a detailed dashboard showing your leads and performance