Amatsigroup Acquires Q-Biologicals

Amatsigroup, a French provider of services for the development of human and veterinary pharmaceutical products, has acquired Q-Biologicals, a Belgian company that provides a range of biologics process development and biomanufacturing services, from research to clinical phase.

Founded in 2011, Q-Biologicals is a provider of process development and biomanufacturing services, specializing in biologicals used in therapeutics, vaccines and diagnostics, such as recombinant proteins, antibodies, viruses and living cells. A spin-off from the Flemish Institute of Biotechnology (VIB) and Ghent University (UGent), Q-Biologicals is based in Ghent, Belgium. The company has 20 employees for a turnover of €4 million in 2015. Since its foundation, Q-Biologicals has successfully delivered on almost 75 R&D projects and several clinical batch cGMP1 manufacturing projects.

As part of its growth and international expansion strategy, Amatsigroup intends to use this acquisition as a platform to expand its services in the biological segment. With revenue of €33 million in 2015 and a portfolio of more than 300 clients, Amatsigroup’s development continues apace with four major acquisitions within the last two years.

With this new acquisition, Amatsigroup now has an integrated innovative offering for the development of new biologics through the AmatsiQBiologicals (bioprocess, biomanufacturing), AmatsiSEPS (formulation development), and AmatsiDBi (sterile manufacturing) facilities. Amatsigroup is now one of the few players in this sector to have a complete offering to conduct development of new biological molecules.

“With this acquisition, Amatsigroup positions itself as a major player in the fastest growing market segment: the development of biological molecules, which now represents more than one new molecule out of two,” said Alain Sainsot, chairman, Amatsigroup. “The integration of Q-Biologicals will give Amatsigroup a platform to consolidate its offering in the field of large molecules and offer the most complete service to its customers. We also strengthen our international footprint.”

“From its start, the Q-Biologicals team did a great job in developing the company to become an international player,” said Annie Van Broekhoven, chief executive officer, Q-Biologicals. “We are very pleased and thrilled to become part of the Amatsigroup, which we consider an ideal partner to successfully grow our service offer. Due to the synergies with the Amatsigroup activities, we can provide our clients with a total solution for the development and production of their biological compounds.”