Japan-based Asahi Kasei Medical has concluded an agreement through a US subsidiary to wholly acquire Bionova Scientific, LLC, a provider of contract process development services and GMP-compliant contract manufacturing services to biopharmaceutical companies, especially those developing next-generation antibody based drugs.

One of the Asahi Kasei Group’s growth engines is the bioprocess business of Asahi Kasei Medical. In addition to the manufacture and sale of Planova filters and bioprocess equipment, Asahi Kasei Medical has been proactively expanding this business into the field of biosafety contract testing with the acquisition in 2019 of Austrian viral safety testing services provider Virusure Forschung und Entwicklung GmbH, followed by the 2021 acquisition of US-based mycoplasma testing services provider Bionique Testing Laboratories LLC.

Acquiring Bionova Scientific will enable Asahi Kasei Medical to add a biopharmaceutical CDMO (contract development and manufacturing organization) to its bioprocess business. As process development and GMP manufacturing operations are key to the overall success of biopharmaceutical customers’ businesses and the launch of new drugs, being able to offer a broader range of critical know-how driven services to biopharmaceutical customers will allow Asahi Kasei Medical to grow its bioprocess business more rapidly by better serving the industry and by reaching a broader range of customers, including those at the cutting edge of next generation biopharmaceuticals.