Celonic AG, a leading global biologics development and manufacturing services provider, and Glycotope, a clinical stage immune-oncology company, have announced the successful completion of Celonic’s acquisition of Glycotope’s bio-manufacturing facility in Heidelberg, Germany.

The acquisition is in line with Celonic’s vision to strengthen its position as a premier global player in the high-growth CDMO market, with continued investment in strategic assets and innovative technology platforms. The acquisition is expected to accelerate topline growth, driven by expanded GMP manufacturing assets and by an immediate investment in capacity for late-stage and commercial supply.

Dr. Konstantin Matentzoglu, Celonic's Chief Executive Officer, said "With on-boarding of almost two decades of invaluable experience in optimization of perfusion continuous manufacturing processes, Celonic is well positioned to offer our customers the flexibility and the advantages of perfusion and fed-batch manufacturing – from pilot to commercial scale.”

“Also, adding Glycotope’s highly complementary GEX human cell line platform to Celonic’s innovative CHOvolution integrated development platform gives our pharmaceutical and biotech customers the unique opportunity to select a tailored expression system, suitable for their bio-therapeutics development needs.”

Dr. Franzpeter Bracht, former COO of Glycotope and future COO of Celonic added “The Heidelberg site fits well with the growth strategy of Celonic. Further investment plans to achieve a leading market position, not only ensures the continuation of more than 120 current jobs, but also provides a strong foundation for creation of future jobs at the site.”

Henner Kollenberg, Glycotope’s Managing Director, said "We look forward to embarking on a new chapter of cooperation with the site in Heidelberg. We are excited about the partnership with Celonic, shaped on CMO services as well as on further marketing of the GlycoExpress (GEX) human cell line platform.  For Glycotope the transaction represents a further step in setting its strategic focus on the development of proprietary antibodies in the field of immune-oncology.”