Global investment bank GCA Altium has advised the shareholders of Retrogenix, an early-stage contract research organisation (CRO) providing specialised bioanalytical services, on its sale to US-headquartered Charles River Laboratories.
Founded in 2008, Derbyshire-based Retrogenix offers cell microarray services for target receptor identification, off-target profiling, and target deconvolution on a wide range of novel therapeutics including biologics, cell therapies and small molecules. It provides the only commercially available platform for off-target screening for pre-clinical safety assurance in CAR T and other cell therapies.
Leveraging one of the world’s largest protein libraries which it has developed over the last ten years, Retrogenix’s proprietary cell microarray technology provides a fast, accurate and effective solution for identifying cell surface and secreted protein interactions in human cells.
The solution allows global biopharmaceutical clients to overcome the critical step in phenotypic drug discovery, to uncover novel high-quality and exploitable drug targets, and to explore pre-clinical safety liabilities of lead candidates using a comprehensive off-target screening platform.
The acquisition of Retrogenix will further strengthen Charles River’s integrated, end-to-end solution for therapeutic antibody and cell and gene therapy discovery and development.
Jim Freeth, co-founder of Retrogenix, says: “We are delighted to announce that Retrogenix is joining the Charles River business. Coupled with their comprehensive drug discovery service portfolio, the work that we do and the technology we offer will enhance our combined proposition to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology market. On behalf of the shareholders, I’d like to express our gratitude to GCA Altium, who were integral to realising this outcome, for their advice and guidance throughout.”
Tom Battersby, Director at GCA Altium, says: “It has been an absolute pleasure to represent Retrogenix on its sale to Charles River. Retrogenix is excellently positioned to become the industry standard for identifying off-targets for novel therapeutics for biopharmaceutical clients worldwide and has found an excellent partner in Charles River to fulfil this. I am sure that the company’s future will continue to be very exciting, and we wish Retrogenix and Charles River every success going forward.”
The Retrogenix shareholders were advised by a GCA Altium team comprising Stuart Warriner, Tom Battersby, Gabrielle Worrall and Matt Jenner. Clarion provided legal advice and Saffrey Champness provided tax advice.
This represents the latest GCA Altium transaction in the Testing, Inspection, Certification and Compliance sector.
