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Ashland, Ohio – June 19, 2013 – WIL Research, a leading global Contract Research Organization (CRO) in the pharmaceutical, chemical and agrochemical industries, has acquired Ricerca Biosciences’ pharmaceutical services business located in Lyon, France. The addition of the 18,000-square meter facility fortifies WIL Research’s service offerings in Europe, strengthens its nonclinical safety assessment capability, and expands its portfolio of innovative specialty services.
“As we listened to our clients and analyzed emerging trends in the pharmaceutical marketplace, it became clear that expansion of our biologic capabilities in Europe was the right move for us,” said David Spaight, WIL Research’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “The Lyon operation leverages our existing capabilities in the United States and the Netherlands and creates a powerful new platform to deliver exceptional value to our clients. This definitive acquisition will double our capacity in Europe, strengthen our offerings to clients and enable WIL Research to accelerate the healthy growth rate we have achieved over the past three years in a challenging market environment.”
Dr. Michael Placke, President, Ricerca Biosciences LLC, explained, “This divestiture will fund significant capital investment into our Concord, Ohio business allowing us to expand and re-invigorate our integrated drug development services in chemical development, drug substance production, and drug safety and metabolism”.
Renamed WIL Research Europe - Lyon, the lab will retain its approximately 280 employees. Long-time Managing Director of the facility, Stéphane Bulle, will continue to lead the site and keep his current senior leadership team intact. With the expansion, WIL Research strengthens its global position as a highly credible player serving the pharmaceutical and chemical industries and its commitment to client needs for nimbleness and customized services.
“While this acquisition expands our integrated safety assessment and associated services for pharmaceutical companies, it also enables us to enhance our focus on the chemical and agrochemical industries via our expert scientific staff in Den Bosch, The Netherlands,” added Spaight.
Over the past 45 years, the Lyon facility has developed a strong scientific reputation with European pharmaceutical clients in safety pharmacology and specialized services including continuous infusion and developmental and reproductive toxicology.
WIL Research now has approximately 1,200 staff worldwide and 63,000 square meters of laboratory space, which span the following facilities:
• United States
-- WIL Research US – Ashland, Ohio – safety assessment
-- WIL Research US – Skokie, Illinois – biologic analysis
-- WIL Research US – Hillsborough, North Carolina – pathology
-- QS Pharma – Boothwyn, Pennsylvania – formulation
• Europe
-- WIL Research Europe – Den Bosch, The Netherlands – safety assessment
-- WIL Research Europe – Lyon, France – safety assessment
In addition, WIL Research maintains commercial representation in:
• Asia
-- Three S Japan - Tokyo, Japan
-- Qu-Best Consulting – Seoul, South Korea
About WIL Research
Located in the United States and Europe with full portfolio representation in Asia, WIL Research Company, Inc., is a privately held global Contract Research Organization (CRO) that provides product safety toxicological research, bioanalytical, and formulation services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, chemical, agrochemical, and food products industries, as well as manufacturing support for clinical trials. For more information visit www.wilresearch.com.
Contact
Clare Russell
Chempetitive Group
+44(0)1223 421 304
crussell@chempetitive.com
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