Oncodesign Services, a French oncology specialist that provides clinical services, has acquired Dutch CRO ZoBio for an undisclosed price.
ZoBio, which was founded almost two decades ago, specializes in biophysics-based small molecule drug discovery.
Oncodesign, meanwhile, is known for its preclinical evaluation of experimental therapies in major disease areas such as oncology and immuno-inflammation. The company also boasts capabilities in medicinal chemistry, computational chemistry, and pharmaco-imaging, among other fields.
The deal gives the combined companies almost 280 workers located in Dijon and Les Ulis in France, Leiden in the Netherlands and at subsidiaries in Canada and the U.S., Oncodesign said in a Jan. 23 press release.
“We are truly excited about the opportunity to combine our best-in-class fragment-based drug discovery platform with the expertise of Oncodesign Services,” Dr. Gregg Siegal, ZoBio’s chief executive, said in the release. “We have looked at many ways to strategically expand our capabilities to cover a greater portion of the drug discovery pipeline and ODS was by far the best fit.”
Oncodesign didn't reveal financial details of the acquisition or say when the sale may be completed.
Back in 2016, Oncodesign inked a collaboration deal with Bristol-Myers Squibb to discover, develop and commercialize novel macrocyclic compounds.