KBI Biopharma Acquires Elion Labs

On Jan. 22, 2018, KBI Biopharma, a biopharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), announced the completed acquisition of the assets of Elion Labs, a contract analytical organization based in Louisville, CO. According to KBI, this acquisition further strengthens KBI’s analytical and biophysical characterization capabilities.

Elion’s services include analytical method development, qualification and validation, characterization of biologics, and comprehensive data analysis including visualization and interpretation of complex data sets. Elion’s staff will join KBI, which has a neighboring facility in Boulder, CO, that specializes in the development and manufacturing of microbial processes. Elion co-founders will continue to oversee operations at the Louisville facility.

“Combining Elion’s analytical expertise with KBI’s broad range of [chemistry and manufacturing controls] capabilities opens up exciting new opportunities for analysis of biologics, and ultimately, for better serving patients,” said John Gabrielson, CEO and founding partner of Elion Labs, in a company press release. “This transaction with KBI will enable development of new analytical capabilities to help biopharmaceutical companies develop safer, more effective drugs and deliver them to patients faster.”

This acquisition is the latest in a series of recent expansions within the last months for KBI. In addition to expanding its existing Durham, NC, and Boulder, CO, facilities, the company has added cell therapy development and manufacturing in The Woodlands, TX, integrated the Selexis cell line development technology into its mammalian cell culture development and manufacturing platforms in North Carolina, and completed the acquisition of Alliance Protein Laboratories in June 2017.

“By incorporating Elion into our company, and combining their unique expertise with Alliance and KBI’s well-established facilities in North Carolina and Colorado, we have established the most powerful analytical capabilities in the biopharmaceutical CDMO industry,” said Tim Kelly, president and CEO of KBI, in the press release. 

Source: KBI Biopharma