Outcome Capital, an investment banking firm that serves middle market growth companies in the life science and technology segments, recently announced that UCB Pharma, Ltd. has acquired privately held Beryllium Discovery, LLC.
Beryllium, a specialized drug discovery contract research organization (CRO), provides research services and engages in collaborations with leading pharmaceutical, innovative biotechnology, and academic partners based on its innovative drug discovery platform. Outcome Capital served as the exclusive strategic and financial advisor to Beryllium for the transaction.
Using a biology-first, target-centric approach, Beryllium has developed deep expertise in protein engineering, expression and purification, as well as functional biology and protein structure designed to find unique therapeutic drugs. The company has had a long partnership with UCB, a developer of treatments for severe neurological and immunological diseases, which previously acquired a minority stake in Beryllium.
“Beryllium is a best-in-class and truly innovative CRO, and we congratulate them on this achievement,” Dr. Oded Ben-Joseph, managing director of Outcome Capital, commented. “Through its expertise in drug discovery, the organization has been instrumental in bringing multiple paradigm-shifting drugs to market or to advanced clinical stages. With these two companies’ long history of successful collaboration, this transaction was an excellent match for our client. It is also a great strategic fit for UCB, and is expected to help grow their pipeline.”
In addition to its drug discovery achievements, Beryllium’s scientific team has published more than 150 high-profile journal articles and contributed more than 1 percent of all structures deposited in the public protein data bank.
“We are proud of our scientific achievements, and this deal is the ultimate recognition of our success,” Johan Pontin, CEO of Beryllium Discovery commented. “Our talented partners at UCB are in a great position to further build Beryllium’s platform and use it to bring more innovation to their high-value discovery program. This is also a great outcome for all Beryllium stakeholders, and I was very impressed with Outcome Capital’s ability to make it happen.”
(Source: Business Wire)
