Sale
Protein engineering specialist Direvo Biotech AG has been acquired by Bayer HealthCare in an all-cash deal worth €210 million. At the same time its subsidiary Direvo Industrial Biotechnology GmbH has been spun out to a group of private investors who have put in €8 million for its further development.
This is a handsome return for investors who have put in €42 million since Direvo Biotech was spun out of the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Gottingen, in 2000, to commercialise the research of Nobel Laureate Manfred Eigen. Although Direvo’s Directed Evolution protein engineering platform for the rapid discovery and optimisation of biopharmaceuticals has been successfully applied to a wide range of proteins, the company is yet to reach profitability.
Bayer Healthcare will integrate Direvo’s R&D staff into Bayer Schering Pharma’s global drug discovery organisation. The company’s site in Cologne will be maintained and integrated into Bayer Schering Pharma as a center of expertise for biologicals alongside the global R&D centres in Germany (Berlin and Wuppertal) and the US (Berkeley).
“With this deal we emphasise our position as a recognised leader in protein engineering. Bayer HealthCare is our new owner of choice not only because of the excellent perspectives for our projects but also due to the close geographic proximity,” said Thomas von Rüden, CEO of Direvo Biotech.
Direvo has been financed by institutional investors, including TVM Capital, Bankhaus Wölbern, Danisco A/S/Danisco Venture, Mulligan BioCapital, Signet Healthcare Partners, NRW.Bank, and SKB Kapitalbeteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, a Sparkasse KölnBonn affiliated private equity firm as well as a number of private individuals.
These same investors have spun out Direvo Biotech for an undisclosed sum and put in €8 million to fund the company. It has exclusive access to the Direvo’s protein engineering technology platform for all markets and applications outside the field of biopharmaceuticals development.
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