WALTHAM, Mass.—Whether researching gene therapy, developing a therapeutic drug for a debilitating illness or discovering a possible vaccine for COVID-19, there is a need for bioprocessing tools and technologies every step of the way.
And while there have been larger acquisitions in the past for Repligen, a global bioprocessing company with nine manufacturing centers around the world to solve such bioprocessing problems, the addition of Albany, N.Y.-based Engineered Molding Technologies will help fill a crucial gap for Repligen in the filtration and purification realms of drug development.
"This is a smaller but important component of the bioprocessing system," said Sondra Newman, global head of investor relations at Waltham-based Repligen. "We are acquiring them because they are experts at what they do."
The companies announced June 29 that the transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2020. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.
EMT, with 20,000 square feet and 50 employees, will bring its expertise in custom- and over-molded silicone products, including single-use tubes, connections and end pieces, to Repligen's portfolio. All EMT employees, including the president, are expected to be retained, bringing Repligen's total global work force to around 840 employees, the company said.
EMT is expected to bring between $7 million and $8 million per year in revenue to Repligen, and Repligen reported in its first quarter financial report that it expects to grow by 25 percent in 2021—well above the industry average—because of acquisitions like EMT.
Repligen estimates between $309 million and $319 million in total revenue in 2020, according to Newman.
Though Repligen officials said it is not yet known how the EMT products might be branded, Repligen traditionally has used a hybrid for the brand names of its larger acquisitions, such as Spectrum LifeSciences L.L.C.-A Repligen brand; or C Technologies Inc.-A Repligen company.
Repligen ultimately has branded its smaller acquisitions with an exclusively Repligen moniker or trademarked product label.
EMT's standard, custom-molded and over-molded assemblies and silicone tubing products are "key components in single-use filtration and chromatography systems," according to Repligen, and now allow the company to control its supply of such high-end silicone tube and connection products in-house.
"The acquisition of EMT expands our line of single-use ProConnex flow paths, streamlines our supply chain for (alternate tangential flow), and gives us more flexibility as we scale and expand our single-use and systems portfolios," said Tony J. Hunt, president and CEO of Repligen.
The EMT portfolio also enables Repligen to offer bioprocessing customers faster lead times on single-use flow path solutions and provides downstream biopharmaceutical and contract development and manufacturing organization customers with a more complete product offering in filtration and chromatography.
EMT, which specializes in high value, low- to mid-volume silicone connective solutions, receives 90 percent of its revenue from OEMs, including Repligen, and 10 percent from direct customers, such as biopharma and CDMO customers.
"Over the last 10 years, EMT has grown to become a key player in the supply of extruded and molded silicone products in the bioprocessing industry," said Michael Pandori, co-founder of Engineered Molding Technology, established in 2010. "We are at a transition point now where it makes sense to join forces with Repligen, which has an impressive history of scaling companies to the next level."
For EMT, this means taking its products global, expanding its commercial footprint and integrating select EMT technologies into Repligen product lines—all while continuing to innovate.