First SPAC focused on biopharma products launches in Europe

A special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) focused on absorbing companies that make medicines for the biotech and pharmaceutical industry has launched in Europe.  

It intends to list on Euronext Paris and has reportedly identified up to 40 potential CDMO targets so far.  

As a SPAC, eureKING is a publicly listed shell company that raises funds to merge with a private company, taking it public without the scrutiny that comes with a traditional IPO. 

According to eureKING co-founder and CEO Michael Kloss, the company aims to unite ‘some of the most innovative European players in biomanufacturing to compete with the leading international companies and CDMOs’.  

He said: ‘Biotherapies and technological innovations from biopharmaceutical companies are destined to become key products in the treatment of many serious diseases for which no medical solution exists today.  

‘These innovations, and especially companies wishing to develop new treatments using these promising technologies, need to benefit from efficient and almost immediate logistical and industrial support, capable of providing them with the tools and production capacity necessary to pursue their clinical developments or to market their products.’ 

According to Kloss, the company plans to acquire three CDMOs that each make about €50 million in annual revenue over the next few years.  

eureKING will target CDMOs in three ‘high growth’ segments: biologics, cell and gene therapy, and live biotherapeutics. On its official website, the company describes the biomanufacturing industry in Europe as ‘booming yet highly fragmented’ and says it plans to ‘act on well identified targets allowing a timely and successful execution of the investment strategy’.  

The company’s management team is comprised of Stefan Berchtold, Chief Financial Officer, and Peter Eckenberg, Chief Transformation and Strategy Officer, alongside CEO Michael Kloss. Its co-founders include former Sanofi CEO Gerard Le Fur and Hubert Olivier, President and CEO of McKesson France and Belgium. Its corporate sponsor is eureKARE.