Summit backs Viroclinics Biosciences

Summit Partners has made an investment in Viroclinics Biosciences, a Dutch contract research organization serving the global biopharmaceutical industry. No financial terms were disclosed.

PRESS RELEASE

ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands & LONDON — Global growth equity investor Summit Partners today announced a majority investment in Viroclinics Biosciences B.V., a leading specialized contract research organization (CRO) serving the global biopharmaceutical industry. The funding will be used to fuel continued expansion of Viroclinics’ services, capacity and international presence.

Viroclinics is a leading provider of specialized non-clinical and clinical services to the global virology therapeutics and vaccine development market. Founded in 2001 within the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, Viroclinics offers a full range of services to support and accelerate the market entry of new drugs, vaccines and antivirals from discovery to launch.

Viroclinics is recognized as a global leader in the provision of respiratory infectious disease research services, with specialization in influenza and other viral targets, including RSV and polio.

“With the increasing global attention on respiratory infectious diseases, Viroclinics’ mission has only grown in its importance,” said Bob van Gemen, CEO of Viroclinics. “Summit Partners brings significant resources, deep healthcare experience and a global reach that will support Viroclinics’ expansion into new specializations and geographies as we seek to broaden our services and capacity worldwide.”

Viroclinics has grown significantly since 2011 when Bob van Gemen joined the company as CEO. Today, the company is a leader in anti-viral and vaccine testing, serving the global pharmaceutical industry through four testing laboratories in Europe and China as well as a global network of processing facilities across 20 countries to coordinate sample collection in strategic regions worldwide. With its recent acquisition of DDL Diagnostic Laboratory, Viroclinics employs 240 specialized scientists, researchers and support staff.

“Viroclinics is a truly global CRO provider of immunology laboratory services with a differentiated set of capabilities,” said Thomas Tarnowski, a Managing Director with Summit Partners, who has joined the Viroclinics Board of Directors. “As a leading lab services provider with a reputation for service excellence and clinical expertise recognized across the biopharmaceutical industry, we believe Vircolinics is ideally positioned to continue its rapid expansion and ability to provide best-in-class support for therapeutic and vaccine development. We are excited to partner with Bob and the rest of the Viroclinics team in this next chapter of growth.”

About Viroclinics Biosciences
Viroclinics Biosciences is a leading virology contract research organization, serving the biopharmaceutical community with a broad range of preclinical, clinical diagnostic, assay development and clinical trial logistics services. Operating at a global level, Viroclinics is the preferred virology testing laboratory for several of the top-10 biopharmaceutical companies. Viroclinics’ extensive experience with clinical and preclinical studies for viruses, including its specialty in respiratory viruses, puts the company at the forefront in supporting the development of vaccines, antibodies and antiviral compounds targeting viral infectious diseases. Visit www.viroclinics.com for more information.

About Summit Partners
Founded in 1984, Summit Partners is a global alternative investment firm that is currently managing more than $19 billion in capital dedicated to growth equity, fixed income and public equity opportunities. Summit invests across growth sectors of the economy and has invested in more than 500 companies in technology, healthcare and other growth industries. Notable life sciences companies financed by Summit Partners include Advanced Cell Diagnostics, Clontech, Integrated DNA Technologies, Fermentas International and LakePharma. Summit maintains offices in North America and Europe and invests in companies around the world. For more information, please see www.summitpartners.com or follow on LinkedIn.