Charles River Laboratories Acquires Distributed Bio
January 04 2021 - 7:00AM
Business Wire
– Establishes a Premier, Integrated, Large
Molecule Discovery Platform –
– Advances Exclusive Partnership Initiated
in 2018 –
Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE: CRL)
announced today that it acquired of Distributed Bio, Inc. on
December 31, 2020. The acquisition marks the culmination of an
exclusive partnership between these companies that was initiated in
October 2018.
Based in South San Francisco, California, Distributed Bio is a
next-generation antibody discovery company. Distributed Bio’s
SuperHuman™ antibody libraries and integrated antibody optimization
technologies help to enhance the probability of success for
delivering high-quality, readily formattable antibody fragments to
support antibody and cell and gene therapy candidates to
biopharmaceutical clients. Distributed Bio’s libraries are
computationally optimized for both sequence diversity and
immuno-engineering fitness through the analysis of thousands of
human antibody repertoires and all known monoclonal therapeutics in
clinical trials, which can generate many unique binders against
every antigen tested. This large molecule discovery platform
improves the chance of successful hit finding, reduces optimization
requirements, and thereby expedites the antibody discovery process
by several months. Distributed Bio’s computational immunology
expertise also enables optimization of existing client antibodies
generated through more traditional platforms, such as hybridoma or
traditional phage display.
The acquisition of Distributed Bio expands Charles River’s
scientific capabilities with an innovative, large-molecule
discovery platform. The transaction combines Distributed Bio’s
antibody libraries and immuno-engineering platform with Charles
River’s extensive drug discovery and non-clinical development
expertise to create an integrated, end-to-end platform for
therapeutic antibody and cell and gene therapy discovery and
development.
James C. Foster, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
of Charles River Laboratories, commented, “The addition of
Distributed Bio’s next-generation antibody discovery capabilities
further enhances Charles River’s unique ability to serve as a
single-source partner to support our clients’ early-stage research.
Our successful partnership has already generated significant client
interest and we believe our broader platform will continue to
attract new discovery business opportunities. Distributed Bio’s
large-molecule discovery platform fills a gap in our portfolio and
expands our early discovery expertise in a complex drug modality
that few CROs can successfully offer. With its focus on speed and
design efficiency, we believe the acquisition of Distributed Bio
will enable us to build upon the more than 80 novel small molecule
candidates that we have discovered for our clients and meet our
goal of eliminating an additional year from our clients’
early-stage development timelines. We are pleased to welcome
Distributed Bio to the Charles River family.”
“We believe our clients’ willingness to outsource more of their
discovery programs will be predicated on our ability to continue to
add innovative capabilities to meet our clients’ critical research
needs, which we are accomplishing through strategic acquisitions
and our partnership strategy. Distributed Bio is an example of our
selective technology investments potentially becoming acquisitions
after working with the target company for a meaningful period of
time to provide its services to our clients. By adding innovative
capabilities like large molecule discovery, we are enabling our
clients to remain with one scientific partner from target
identification through IND filing, and solidifying our position as
the leading, early-stage contract research organization,” Mr.
Foster concluded.
Financial and Transaction
Details
The purchase price was $83 million in cash, subject to customary
closing adjustments. In addition to the initial purchase price, the
transaction includes contingent additional payments of up to $21
million based on future performance. The proposed acquisition and
associated fees have been financed through Charles River’s existing
revolving credit facility and cash.
Distributed Bio’s estimated annual revenue in 2020 was
approximately $15 million. The transaction is not expected to have
a material impact on Charles River’s GAAP or non-GAAP financial
results in 2021. Distributed Bio will become part of the Company’s
Discovery and Safety Assessment segment.
Caution Concerning Forward-Looking
Statements
This news release includes forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words
such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “expect,” “will,” “may,”
“estimate,” “plan,” “outlook,” and “project” and other similar
expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or
that are not statements of historical matters. Forward-looking
statements include statements in this news release regarding the
acquisition of Distributed Bio and Charles River’s expectations
with respect to the impact of Distributed Bio on the Company, its
product and service offerings, client perception, revenue, revenue
growth rates, and earnings per share; Charles River’s projected
future performance including revenue and earnings per share; as
well as Charles River’s future growth for discovery services.
Forward-looking statements are based on Charles River’s current
expectations and beliefs, and involve a number of risks and
uncertainties that are difficult to predict and that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by
the forward-looking statements. Those risks and uncertainties
include, but are not limited to, the ability to successfully
integrate the acquisition of Distributed. A further description of
these risks, uncertainties, and other matters can be found in the
Risk Factors detailed in Charles River's Annual Report on Form 10-K
as filed on February 11, 2020 and the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q
as filed on October 29, 2020, as well as other filings we make with
the Securities and Exchange Commission. Because forward-looking
statements involve risks and uncertainties, actual results and
events may differ materially from results and events currently
expected by Charles River, and Charles River assumes no obligation
and expressly disclaims any duty to update information contained in
this news release except as required by law.
About Charles River
Charles River provides essential products and services to help
pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, government agencies and
leading academic institutions around the globe accelerate their
research and drug development efforts. Our dedicated employees are
focused on providing clients with exactly what they need to improve
and expedite the discovery, early-stage development and safe
manufacture of new therapies for the patients who need them. To
learn more about our unique portfolio and breadth of services,
visit www.criver.com.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210104005198/en/
Investors: Todd Spencer Corporate Vice President, Investor
Relations 781.222.6455 todd.spencer@crl.com Media: Amy Cianciaruso
Corporate Vice President, Public Relations 781.222.6168
amy.cianciaruso@crl.com
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