While the FTC continues to review its $16.5 billion buy of Catalent, Novo Holdings announced Wednesday it has acquired a majority stake in Single Use Support, an Austrian life sciences tools company.
Novo Holdings announced Wednesday that it is buying a majority stake in the Austrian life sciences tools company Single Use Support, a provider of fluid management services.
While Novo did not disclose specific financial terms of the transaction in its press release, a spokesperson told Reuters that the deal would be in the “high triple-digit million euros.” The Danish holdings firm, which is the parent company of pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk, will own around a 60% controlling stake in Single Use Support, while the Austrian company’s two founders will each retain 10% stakes.
The remaining 20% of Single Use Support will be owned by global life sciences and diagnostics company Danaher.
Johan Heuffer, senior partner of principal investments at Novo Holdings, in a statement called Wednesday’s acquisition an “important and complimentary addition to our fast-growing life science tools and diagnostics portfolio.” The investment will help Novo Holdings advance healthcare solutions and technologies, according to Heuffer.
The Single Use Support deal will also enable Novo Holdings to provide life sciences services to other pharmaceutical companies. The company does not currently use Single Use for its blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy (semaglutide), Hueffer told Reuters.
Novo Holdings and Single Use Support did not specify when they expect to close the deal but said that the transaction’s completion will depend on certain regulatory clearances.
Founded in 2017, Single Use Support is a solutions provider focused on fluid and cold-chain management for pharmaceutical substances. The company, headquartered in Austria and with a subsidiary in the U.S., helps drugmakers to safely and efficiently handle and transport their products including biologics, cell and gene therapies and mRNA vaccines.
Some of its products and services include sterile single-use consumables and assemblies, ultra-cold freezers, bioprocess containers and automated aliquoting systems, among others.
For Novo Holdings, Wednesday’s deal with Single Use Support comes as it looks to beef up its manufacturing capacities and supply chain in support of Novo Nordisk’s top-selling Wegovy and type 2 diabetes drug Ozempic (semaglutide).
In February 2024, Novo Holdings dropped $16.5 billion in an all-cash deal to buy CDMO giant Catalent. The acquisition has since hit several regulatory road bumps and has triggered concerns among Catalent’s other pharma clients including Novo’s competitor Eli Lilly.
In April 2024, Novo Nordisk Foundation withdrew and refiled its antitrust filing with the FTC, in effect delaying the deal by 30 days. Earlier this month, the merger was hit with another 30-day delay after the FTC requested additional information regarding the transaction.
In March 2024, Novo Holdings announced that it would pump around $556 million into its China footprint, enabling the construction of a sterile preparations facility. Late last year, Novo also unveiled a $6 billion investment in Denmark to bolster its manufacturing capabilities.
Tristan Manalac is an independent science writer based in Metro Manila, Philippines. Reach out to him on LinkedIn or email him at tristan@tristanmanalac.com or tristan.manalac@biospace.com.
