Aptuit acquires Swiss CRO Exquiron Biotech

USA-based contract research organization Aptuit has acquired Exquiron Biotech to meet customer demand for fully integrated outsourced discovery services. Exquiron is a leading specialist CRO dedicated to early phase drug discovery solutions. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 2013 and located near Basel, Switzerland, Exquiron offers industry leading expertise in assay development for hit finding and profiling purposes, high throughput screening, selectivity testing and hit characterization. These services are complemented by an extensive library collection of lead like compounds, as well as deep scientific knowledge in compound selection and structure activity relationship (SAR) expansion across a broad range of targets in multiple therapeutic areas.

Jonathan Goldman, chief executive of Aptuit, stated: "Aptuit specializes in the discovery of small molecules across a wide range of therapeutic areas including neuroscience, oncology, infectious disease, inflammation, respiratory and others. The acquisition of Exquiron broadens our scientific excellence in advanced integrated discovery by incorporating capabilities in early discovery. In particular, we are thrilled to enhance our hit identification, validation, and expansion services. We can now offer uninterrupted and very high quality delivery of a research program from target to high quality candidate nomination. We expect our customers to benefit from improved probability of candidate nomination, with reductions in time and cost.”