Suven Pharma acquires controlling stake in NJ Bio Inc to strengthen position in US market

Suven Pharmaceuticals Limited on Saturday announced that it has executed definitive agreements for acquiring ownership of 56% equity share capital of NJ Bio Inc.

In a filing to the stock exchanges, the company said that it will acquire the controlling stake for strengthening its position as a technology-led Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation (CDMO) in the United States market.

The company informed the bourses that it will acquire a controlling stake in NJ Bio Inc. through an investment of $64.4 million, comprising $49.4 million for buying out the existing stakes of the minority shareholders and $15 million for the primary equity infusion.

The transaction is expected to close before the end of December 2024, the company informed the stock exchanges.

NJ Bio is a premier Antibody Drug Conjugate (ADC) and X-drug conjugate (XDC) focused Contract Research, Development, and Manufacturing Organisation (CRDMO). The company has served over 150 customers and delivered over 500 projects in five years.

Suven Pharma said in the release that it plans to make the acquisition to position itself as a key player in the Antibody Drug Conjugate (ADC) outsourcing market which is valued at $2.7 billion and is projected to grow at over 25% annually. The company added that the acquisition will extend Suven Pharma’s current ADC offering with expertise across domains such as payload chemistry, payload-linker synthesis, bioconjugation and ADC-specific analytical platforms.

The pharma company added that it will acquire NJ Bio Inc. as it is led by a founder and senior team with decades of ADC expertise.

Suven Pharma said that the acquisition will provide it with a nearshore presence and help offer customers flexible dual-location solutions across the US and India. NJ Bio Inc. has a state-of-the-art 80,000 sq ft research and development and manufacturing facility located in Princeton.

The acquisition is also aimed at providing enhanced cross-selling opportunities by combining complementary customer bases across small-to-mid biotech and large pharma, creating significant cross-selling potential. The company claims that the acquisition will create one of the few CRDMOs with a US plus India footprint and presence across major new modalities such as ADC, Nucleic Acid Chemistry and mRNA.

Shares of Suven Pharma closed flat at ₹1,291.45 apiece, down by 0.37%, on the NSE on December 6.