University of Nottingham has sold its stake in US-based drug discovery technology developer Crown Bioscience International (CrownBio) to diversified manufacturing conglomerate JSR Corporation for £3.6m ($4.8m), Insider Media has reported.
JSR Corporation originally announced its NT$12bn ($400m) acquisition of CrownBio in December 2017, in what marked the corporate’s largest ever life sciences deal.
Founded in 2006, CrownBio offers a range of translational drug discovery and development services in areas such as advanced oncology, inflammatory conditions and cardiovascular or metabolic diseases to clinical research laboratories.
The services include pre-clinical oncological models based on research from Nottingham’s School of Medicine, which was commercialised by oncological research spinout Precos, acquired by CrownBio in 2015.
JSR Corporation expects to augment its portfolio with CrownBio’s contract R&D facilities and capacity for further development. JKic, the corporate’s collaboration hub for medical businesses and academic researchers, also stands to benefit from CrownBio’s services and expertise.
The acquisition will provide JSR with access to the spinout’s pharmaceutical-sector contacts and worldwide presence. CrownBio has an office in Taiwan in addition to two in mainland China, four in the US and a single branch in the UK.
CrownBio received a total of $52.5m in equity from 2006 until 2013, the period covered by its securities filings.
The company also secured $26.6m in a 2014 series D round led by Lilly Asia Ventures Fund II, a regional investment vehicle of drug manufacturer Eli Lilly, after closing a $28.8m series C three years previously led by OrbiMed Advisors Caduceus Asia Partners Fund.
CDIB Capital, the overseas private equity arm of Taiwan-based investment bank China Development Financial, also backed the series C round, as did Argonaut Private Equity, CID Group, IBT Venture, Qiming Venture Partners and China Renaissance Capital Investment.
Life sciences developer Chemizon backed CrownBio’s series B round of undisclosed size in 2008, after CrownBio received $2.5m in equity from undisclosed investors the previous year.
Andrew Naylor, chief executive of Nottingham Technology Ventures, the university’s spinout equity management arm, said: “The sale of shares in CrownBio is the third exit from the Medical School’s spinout portfolio this year and is in line with the university’s policy to realise value from its equity in listed companies.”
