CRO

Spanish CRO Kymos acquires Italian firm Pharmaprogress

Five years ago, Spanish CRO Kymos set out on a journey to enhance its place as an important CRO in the European market. It has recently closed a deal to acquire Italian company Pharmaprogress, expanding further internationally.

Although it’s only a 10-member firm, Pharmaprogress has GMP authorization from the Italian Medicines Agency and offers a myriad of services which include several aspects of development for pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and food supplements, etc. It expects to post a turnover of €1 million next year.

Founded in 2001, the Italian CRO has made several steps in recent years to expand its presence in Europe. In 2012, it reached a strategic deal with French multinational firm Ipsen to take in a team of eight scientists from the drugmaker’s R&D center in Barcelona. The collaboration led to the formation, within Kymos, of a biotech division which has been focusing in the field of biomolecules and biosimilar drugs.

Kymos inaugurated its new headquarters with 1,500-square-meter (about 16,000-square-foot) space for offices and labs at the Vallès Technology Park in Barcelona and invested €2 million to equip the facility that enabled expansion of its R&D and quality control services. 

After this acquisition of Pharmaprogress, Italy will become Kymos’ main foreign market, followed closely by France, and about half of the company’s business volume will be coming from outside of Spain, said company CEO Joan Puig de Dou. It also has a presence in Switzerland, Germany and Portugal.

With a greater capacity for managing projects, privately-held Kymos now expects to reach €7 million in sales this year.