WIL Research acquires Ricerca facility in Lyon, France
Adds to service offerings in Europe, strengthens its non-clinical safety assessment capability, and expands its portfolio of specialist services
WIL Research, a US-based global contract research organisation (CRO) in the pharmaceutical, chemical and agrochemical industries, has acquired Ricerca Biosciences’ pharmaceutical services business in Lyon, France for an undisclosed sum.
The company says the addition of the 18,000m2 facility fortifies its service offerings in Europe, strengthens its non-clinical safety assessment capability, and expands its portfolio of innovative specialist services.
‘As we listened to our clients and analysed 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.
‘The Lyon operation leverages our existing capabilities in the US 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.’
Michael Placke, President, Ricerca Biosciences, added that the sale of the Lyon plant to WIL Research would fund significant capital investment at its Concord, Ohio business allowing the firm ‘to expand and re-invigorate our integrated drug development services in chemical development, drug substance production, and drug safety and metabolism’.
The Ricerca lab will be renamed WIL Research Europe – Lyon and retain approximately 280 people. Stephane Bulle, Managing Director of the facility, will continue to lead the site and maintain his current senior leadership team.
Spaight added: ‘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 the Netherlands.’
WIL Research now has approximately 1,200 staff worldwide and 63,000m2 of laboratory space, spanning four facilities in the US, two in Europe and representation in Japan and South Korea.