KKR invests $100m in Nordic Bioscience

KKR’s investment will support Nordic Bioscience with commercialization and the global expansion of its R&D services, diagnostics platform, leading patent portfolio and drug development pipeline.

Nordic Bioscience A/S, a Danish company and world leader in biomarker development, announced today the signing of an investment from KKR, a leading global investment firm. KKR will acquire a minority equity stake in Nordic Bioscience from existing shareholders and will support the company in accelerating its global growth.

Nordic Bioscience has world-leading knowledge and ownership of biomarkers, measurable indicators of biological change or response used for the development of diagnostic tools and identification of new drug candidates.

“I am excited to welcome KKR as a valued investor to the Nordic Bioscience team and to have their support in building on our strategy of bringing innovative novel diagnostic biomarkers and drug candidates to the market for the benefit of patients. Our fast-moving customers have high expectations, and KKR’s investment will propel Nordic Bioscience forward so that we can continue to meet these expectations. At the core of Nordic Bioscience is collaboration, among our team, with our partners and customers and now with KKR,” said Morten Karsdal, CEO of Nordic Bioscience.

Nordic Bioscience has established a position as the world’s most experienced company within the extracellular matrix (ECM) through more than 25 years of dedicated research and development. The ECM is the non-cellular component of all tissues and organs and can be analyzed to identify new drug candidates in more than 50 disease areas, diagnose patients and evaluate the effect of existing drugs and drug candidates.

Nordic Bioscience owns more than 150 patents and has published over 500 scientific papers in leading scientific journals. The company has entered into partnerships with the world’s largest pharma companies to develop new drugs in four major disease areas (fibrosis, oncology, diabetes and cardiovascular) and has collaborations with leading diagnostic companies for the use of Nordic Bioscience’s biomarkers for diagnostic purposes. In addition, Nordic Bioscience services a growing international customer base of pharma, biotech and CROs with preclinical and clinical data analysis from its certified laboratory.

“On the basis of our exceptional knowledge of the ECM, we are a sought-after partner to the world’s leading global health care companies and now have a base to accelerate our international development,” said Morten Karsdal.

“We are in a unique position to capitalize on the ECM knowledge and leadership that we have developed over the past 25 years and know more than any other organization about the ECM. I am convinced that we will play an important role in the development of new drugs targeted at 2-3 major disease areas in the coming years. With KKR, we have found the ideal investor to help us commercialize our knowledge,” said Dr. Claus Christiansen founder & Chairman of Nordic Bioscience.

“We are very impressed with Nordic Bioscience, its unique scientific heritage and outstanding team. We are looking forward to working together with Claus, Morten and the team to accelerate the development of the company. The investment in Nordic Bioscience is a good example of how KKR combines its local geographic franchises with deep insight from its sector teams,” said Anders Borg, Managing Director at KKR.

KKR is making the investment through the firm’s Health Care Strategic Growth Fund, which is focused on investing in leading high-growth health care companies for which KKR can be a unique partner in helping reach full potential. KKR has invested approximately $14 billion in equity capital across the health care sector since 2004. The Nordic Bioscience investment is a further testament to KKR’s commitment to the Nordics, following recent investments across the region in Visma, Välinge, Mehilainen, Sector Alarm and Söderberg & Partners.

Source: Yahoo Finance