New owner for Arcinova

UK-based CDMO Arcinova has been acquired by Quotient Sciences, a ‘drug development and manufacturing accelerator’ that is itself owned by private equity firm Permira. BGF, which had part-owned Arcinova since 2018, will withdraw from its minority stake. Terms were not disclosed.

Quotient said that adding Arcinova will expand its service portfolio and “enable the integration of drug substance, drug product and clinical testing capabilities all under one organisation”. It claims that its flagship platform Translational Pharmaceutics, has already shaved 12 months from drug development timelines.

Arcinova was founded in 2016 by serial industry entrepreneur Professor Ian Shott and Paul Ryan. It operates a former Sanofi and Covance site at Alnwick, north-east England, where it employs 160 and provides drug substance, drug product and bioanalysis services to over 200 pharmaceutical and biotech customers worldwide.