GREENWICH, Conn., July 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Aptuit, Inc., an emerging company focused on streamlining and supporting the drug development process for biotechnology and pharmaceutical innovators, has signed an agreement to acquire three Quintiles Transnational business units for cash consideration of $125 million, the two companies announced today. The units will be reorganized into three global business lines: Preclinical Technologies, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Packaging & Logistics.
This transaction marks a significant step forward in Aptuit’s strategy to build a world-class drug development services company through acquisition and investments in talent, technologies and infrastructure. Aptuit will provide to customers in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors a comprehensive suite of product development services and competencies designed to accelerate and enhance the probability of success for new drugs in development. The three business lines employ more than 1,400 people, primarily in Kansas City, MO; Mt. Laurel, NJ; Edinburgh, Scotland; and Singapore. Under the terms of the acquisition, Aptuit and Quintiles will enter into a multi-year agreement to jointly market products and services.
“As an integrated organization, these business lines constitute a premier business that will form the foundation for our comprehensive drug development services offering,” said Michael A. Griffith, CEO of Aptuit. The Quintiles units provide services to 19 of the top 20 drug companies worldwide, as well as many emerging biotechnology and pharmaceutical innovators worldwide. “We gain an industry-leading team with the right expertise for our business model, a world-class customer base, GMP/GLP facilities, and a range of technologies to support and help drive drug development. From a technical and operational standpoint, the transition to Aptuit will be virtually seamless to employees and customers,” Mr. Griffith added.
“This is a winning, strategic move for Quintiles that we believe will benefit our customers,” said Dennis Gillings, CBE, Chairman and CEO of Quintiles. “The commercial agreement will enable Quintiles to continue to make early development services available through the alliance while we grow internally to meet the increasing demand for our services in clinical trials and commercial partnerships.”
“With this agreement, we enhance our already strong cash position, which is important for many of our partnering solutions. We can also bring greater focus to our clinical services and clinical support services, such as our global laboratory network.”
Aptuit intends to invest $50 million in the business units over the next three years to enhance operations; expand the product and service portfolio; and build the industry’s first seamless IT system that enables end-to-end customer-accessible project management and test data. Once the acquisition is completed, a management team will be named. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2005.
About Aptuit
Aptuit, Inc. is an emerging company focused on streamlining and supporting the drug development process for biotechnology and pharmaceutical innovators. The company was founded by a group of industry experts with extensive market experience who have a track record of building a similar, highly successful company through acquisitions and investment. Aptuit will provide a comprehensive suite of product development services and competencies to biotechnology companies and large, fully integrated pharmaceutical companies worldwide. Aptuit has raised an initial $150 million from Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, and has access to additional capital to implement its business strategy. For more information about Aptuit, please visit http://www.aptuit.com
About Quintiles
Quintiles helps improve healthcare worldwide by providing a broad range of professional services, information and partnering solutions to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and healthcare industries. Headquartered near Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, Quintiles has offices in 50 countries and is the world’s leading pharmaceutical services organization. For more information visit the company’s Web site at www.quintiles.com.
Contact: Michael A. Griffith, CEO, Aptuit, Inc. +1-203-422-6600, info@aptuit.com or Marcia A. Kean, Feinstein Kean Healthcare +1-617-577-8110, marcia.kean@fkhealth.com
Aptuit, Inc.
CONTACT: Michael A. Griffith, CEO, Aptuit, Inc., +1-203-422-6600,info@aptuit.com, or Marcia A. Kean, Feinstein Kean Healthcare,+1-617-577-8110, marcia.kean@fkhealth.com
