CatSci Ltd (“CatSci), an award-winning innovation partner for medicines development, announces the acquisition of Reach Separations, a specialist chromatography provider for the analysis and purification of therapeutics. The acquisition was supported by Keensight Capital (“Keensight”), one of the leading private equity managers dedicated to pan-European Growth Buyout^[1] investments.

Headquartered in the United Kingdom, and with laboratories in both the UK and France, Reach Separations specialises in chromatography for the analysis and purification of chiral and achiral therapeutics. With its differentiated analytical offering and its highly skilled workforce, Reach is the go-to partner for delivering purification projects from discovery chromatography through to large scale SFC (Supercritical Fluid Chromatography) for chiral purification and impurity isolation.

The acquisition of Reach will enable CatSci to offer its global customers access to holistic chromatographic services that will aid them from discovery through to manufacture, catering to full asset development or standalone projects. This enhanced separation science offering will provide the highest quality analysis for small molecules, oligonucleotides and other complex synthetic medicines.

Reach’s state-of-the-art SFC and HPLC (High-Performance Liquid Chromatography) instrumentation provides a range of screening options and problem-solving capabilities, further supporting the combined company’s customer base. This acquisition marks a significant milestone in CatSci’s growth strategy as the company continues to enhance its CMC (Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls) capabilities to add strategic value to their partnerships with customers.

Dr Ross Burn, CEO at CatSci, commented: “’We are excited to welcome Reach Separations into the CatSci Group. The need for solving complex analytical problems while meeting the ever-evolving regulatory demands is growing alongside the development of new modalities, such as oligonucleotides, TACs (Targeting Chimeras), and glues. Joining forces with Reach gives our customers access to end-to-end coverage of the analytical development lifecycle, taking them from discovery through to GMP manufacture, and ultimately enabling them to help patients in need.’’

Peter Ridgway, Business Development Director at Reach Separations, added: “Becoming part of the CatSci Group will enhance and strengthen Reach Separations’ ability to deliver excellence in chromatography. Integrating our technologies and expertise across the discovery and development landscape will provide a one-stop-shop for analysis and purification, giving the client a variety of options to progress the journey of their asset. As one of the founders of Reach Separations, I am delighted to join forces with CatSci to deliver strong growth and expand separation science into new marketplaces.”

James Mitchell, Partner at Keensight Capital, concluded: “We are delighted that Reach Separations has joined the CatSci Group and look forward to continuing to support the company in this next phase of their growth. Having identified CatSci as a company with exceptional potential, unique positioning and strong expertise in the small molecule R&D, we believe that the addition of Reach’s differentiated offering, analytical capabilities and strong employee base will ensure that the combined company is well positioned for future growth in this space.”

The acquisition is effective immediately, and both companies will work closely to ensure a seamless transition for all customers and stakeholders.

^[1] Growth Buyout: investment in profitable, private companies experiencing strong growth, in minority or majority positions, with or without leverage, using a flexible approach tailored to the needs of individual entrepreneurs, in order to finance organic growth projects, acquisition strategies or provide historic shareholders with liquidity.

About CatSci Ltd

CatSci Ltd is an award-winning innovation partner, dedicated to breaking down the silos in small molecules, TACS, glues and oligonucleotides CMC development to accelerate the delivery of life-changing medicines to patients. Our tailored services include route scouting and selection, initial scale-up and risk management for early development. For later development, we provide process design, assessment and optimisation, scale-up for clinical and commercial manufacture, tech transfer and post-approval improvements. We possess a range of critical enabling technologies in research, development and manufacturing of small molecule and new modality therapeutics, with specialist facilities in chemical development, catalysis, material science, pre-formulation, HPAPI development, GMP analytical services, and oligonucleotide R&D and supply. Through our partnership with AGC Pharma Chemicals, we offer scalable small molecule API manufacturing, from grams to tonnes, with complete accountability of tech transfer. CatSci has won both locally and nationally recognised awards reflecting the hard work and talents of CatSci’s workforce and the strategic growth of its facilities and service offerings. Recent recognition includes the 2024 Finance Awards Wales (ESG Excellence), the 2023 UK Fast Growth 50 Index Award (Innovative Growth) and the Queen’s Award for Enterprise: International Trade 2022.

About Reach Separations

Reach Separations are specialists in chromatography for the analysis and purification of small molecules. Equipped with state-of-the-art SFC and HPLC instrumentation, Reach Separations has a reputation for delivering projects with quality and speed. The company is recognized as a brand that is trusted and for providing solutions to complex problems. To allow for continued support across the journey of an asset, Reach Separations can accommodate multiple scales of purification, from milligram to kilogram – keeping projects with a single trusted provider and maintaining a key relationship. First-class expertise in chiral and achiral separations support discovery chromatography, large-scale purification, and impurity isolation. With facilities co-located in Nottingham, UK and Strasbourg, France, Reach Separations has a geographical platform to provide separation science excellence and project speed across Biotech, Pharma, Agrochemical and Cosmetic sectors.

About Keensight Capital

Keensight Capital (“Keensight”), one of the leading European Growth Buyout firms, is committed to supporting entrepreneurs as they implement their growth strategies. For over 20 years, Keensight Capital’s team of seasoned professionals has leveraged their knowledge of investment and growth industries to invest for the long term in profitable companies with high growth potential and revenues in the range of €10 million to €400 million. Drawing on its expertise in the Technology and Healthcare sectors, Keensight identifies the best investment opportunities in Europe and works closely with management teams to develop and achieve their strategic vision. Keensight Capital's success has also earned it a Gold Award from the Private Equity Exchange & Awards each year for the last seven consecutive years, and in particular, the Best European Growth Private Equity Fund.