Crown Bioscience Acquires OcellO

Crown Bioscience, a JSR Life Sciences company and leader in preclinical services that help biopharmaceutical companies accelerate new drug development programs, has acquired OcellO B.V., a privately owned contract research organization located in the Netherlands.

Through this acquisition, CrownBio will expand its portfolio of in vitro services, integrating OcellO’s expertise in high content imaging alongside CrownBio’s in vitro and in vivo screens and immunotherapy assessment services.

“CrownBio and OcellO believe that the key to improving clinical research success is to utilize more patient-relevant models and assays that can generate reliable efficacy data as early as possible in the drug development process,” said Armin Spura, PhD, chief executive officer of CrownBio. “This acquisition brings together the complementary strengths of our two companies, enhancing our in vitro services portfolio and offering customers the ability to better evaluate multiple drug combinations and targets, across a wider range of tumor and cancer types, with improved predictability and clinical relevance moving from in vitro to in vivo phases of drug discovery.”

The acquisition establishes CrownBio as the only global source licensed to offer customers specialized Hubrecht Organoid Technology (HUB) for drug development programs. Under the terms of the agreement, Leo Price, PhD, OcellO’s chief executive officer and chief scientific officer, will join CrownBio as senior vice president, In Vitro, to lead the company’s in vitro business in the US and Europe.

“I am delighted to join CrownBio and help grow the company’s in vitro portfolio,” said Price. “We will continue our shared heritage of innovation and dedication to customer service to serve complex needs in early-stage cancer drug development. Our combined expertise is particularly suited for disease-relevant large-scale screening, allowing our customers to evaluate multiple drug combinations in a rapid, scientifically rigorous, and cost-effective way.”

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.