GE Healthcare to Acquire PAA Laboratories, Broadening Capabilities in Biopharmaceutical Manufacture Market

(Fairfield, CT, USA), announced it has reached an agreement to acquire PAA Laboratories, GmbH (Pasching, Austria), a developer and supplier of cell culture media for biomedical research and the fast-growing biopharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturing industry.

The acquisition of PAA Laboratories allows GE Healthcare to expand products and services for cell-biology research, and for the discovery and manufacture of biopharmaceuticals including recombinant proteins, antibodies, and vaccines. The strong strategic fit between the two businesses, combined with expanded capabilities in product development and marketing, will offer significant long-term customer benefits. Financial terms were not disclosed.

PAA Laboratories develops and manufactures specialized and novel cell culture products such as media, sera, growth supplements, and reagents for use in biomedical research and in the production of protein-based pharmaceuticals. The company, which has world-class manufacturing facilities registered with the FDA, has recently implemented one of the world’s leading manufacturing facilities for powdered cell culture media to meet the growing demand for these products from the biopharmaceutical industry. PAA Laboratories’ products are complementary to GE Healthcare’s established technologies for cell biology research and biopharmaceutical purification. Combining the expertise of the two companies will enable GE Healthcare to offer a substantially wider range of integrated products and services to the biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry.

“The acquisition of PAA Laboratories is a significant step forward for our life sciences business and for biopharmaceutical manufacturing globally,” said Kieran Murphy, president and CEO of GE Healthcare Life Sciences. “GE Healthcare Life Sciences is well known for its expertise in the ‘downstream’ processes of biopharmaceutical manufacturing. Adding ‘upstream’ capabilities will enable us to provide an end-to-end, fully integrated service to our customers. We believe that an integrated approach, where we can help customers optimize every stage of their manufacturing process, has the potential to reduce cost of entry, deliver higher yields of finished product, and reduce time to market.”

The global demand for media, sera, and reagents for cell culture is predicted to grow from US$2.3 billion in 2009 to an estimated $3.9 billion by 2015. The acquisition of PAA Laboratories is consistent with GE’s strategy to invest in high technology, innovative businesses that deliver strong top-line growth and expanded margins. The acquisition also supports GE healthymagination, GE’s global initiative to reduce cost, increase access, and improve the quality of healthcare worldwide.

Welcoming the acquisition, Rainer Burian, long-term CEO, PAA Laboratories said, “This is a great opportunity for the professional team of staff at PAA Laboratories and we are very excited to become part of GE Healthcare’s Life Sciences business. The Board of Directors of PAA Laboratories strongly believes that joining such a well-respected and recognized organization will give us significant opportunities to grow our business further with new technologies, products, and services. The entire PAA Laboratories team looks forward to joining GE.”

The acquisition, which is subject to customary closing conditions including regulatory approvals, is expected to close in Q3 2011.

PAA Laboratories specializes in the manufacture and worldwide distribution of cell culture products for research, development, diagnostic and biopharmaceutical production. The company processes and manufactures sera, synthetic media, protein-free media, biochemical supplements and reagents, all of which are used as cell nutrients in cell culture technology. PAA also actively develops new products to satisfy the demands of industrial customers. The company employs 215 people and had revenues of approximately $55 million in 2010.

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