Oxford Biomedica acquires ABL Europe

Published by

Tom Kilkelly

ABL Lyon site. Credit: ABL

Oxford Biomedica has announced the addition of two facilities in France to its CDMO network through the acquisition of ABL Europe from Institut Mérieux.

The deal will see France’s Institut Mérieux pay €15 million in exchange for shares in the Oxford-based firm while committing an additional €20 million of future funding to ABL Europe.

In exchange, Oxford Biomedica will add GMP-compliant viral vectors facilities in Lyon and Strasbourg along with ABL’s client sheet, which involves more than 10 cell and gene therapy programs with various different vector types.

ABL was acquired by bioMerieux in the early 2000s and later spun out under the Institut Mérieux In 2015. Institut Mérieux created the wholly-owned subsidiary ABL Europe to lead ABL manufacturing operations in Europe.

Michel Baguenault, CEO of Institut Mérieux, said: “We are giving ABL Europe’s teams and its French sites new development prospects and access to innovative technologies that will enable them to broaden their offering to biopharmaceutical companies.”

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The Lyon facility includes 750 square meters of manufacturing suites equipped with single-use 50L-scale (rocking-motion bioreactors) to 200L-scale (stirred bioreactors) that fit with adherent and suspension cell culture, along with cell banking and fill & finish capabilities.

Oxford Biomedica CEO Frank Mathias added the deal brings extra capacity and augments his firm’s position in the CDMO space: “ABL Europe offers the opportunity to gain a footprint in the EU and free up Oxford Biomedica’s capacity to meet increasing client demand, as well as significantly increasing our capabilities and flexibility for clients.

“Our goal is to deliver excellent client experiences and accelerate the time it takes for our clients to get their products to market.

''We are excited about the possibility of welcoming ABL Europe staff to our group and Institut Mérieux as a long-term shareholder and turn to 2024 with great excitement and confidence.”

Tom Kilkelly

Tom Kilkelly started working as a freelance journalist for The Business Magazine following his graduation from UCL in 2022. During his studies Tom became very interested in the works of Irish authors including Samuel Beckett and Flann O'Brien (Brian O'Nolan). His current role as a freelance business reporter is his first exposure to the world of business journalism. Working at TBM has given Tom the chance to really get to grips with the goings-on in the business hive that is the South East.