Biotage acquires Astrea Bioseparations

The agreement values Astrea – which is headquartered in Cambridge, UK, with manufacturing facilities in the UK and US – at around $190m.

Astrea Bioseparations is a provider of process chromatography solutions, including columns, resins, and nanofiber purification technology for life sciences and other adjacent industries. Its products are used in the manufacture of more than 20 FDA approved treatments, while it has a pipeline oriented towards the purification of novel modalities.

'Rich, near-term pipeline'

Described as a ‘global impact tech company’ with products for customers in drug discovery, development, diagnostics and analytical testing, Biotage has set out its ambitions to grow its offering in the biologics and novel therapeutics space, noting this is where it sees major advancements taking place.

“With Astrea becoming part of Biotage, we have taken a huge leap in fulfilling that vision,” said Torben Jörgensen, Chairman of the Board at Biotage.

The acquisition will extend the Uppsala, Sweden-headquartered company’s chromatography franchise into the higher-growth and larger bioprocessing segment, as well as increasing exposure to biologics and advanced therapeutic customers.

“Importantly, Astrea strengthens Biotage’s financial profile through its attractive organic growth rate, higher gross margins, and significant exposure to recurring consumables-based revenues,” says Biotage.

“In addition, the acquisition brings a rich, near-term pipeline of new product launches across chromatography resins, nanofiber-based membranes, and columns.”