Clean Cells has acquired French bioanalysis specialist Anaquant in a move that will expand its mass spectrometry capabilities for protein characterisation and biopharmaceutical quality control.

Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

The deal gives Clean Cells ownership of Anaquant’s brand, intellectual property, mass spectrometry-based analytical platform, equipment and existing client relationships.

Anaquant specialises in mass spectrometry-based bioanalysis and protein characterisation, supporting biopharmaceutical developers during early-stage research and development.

Clean Cells said the acquisition will allow it to extend analytical support from early-stage method development and protein characterisation through to GMP testing and regulatory submission.

The deal also includes Anaquant’s ReadyBeads technology, a reference standard product line used for host cell protein (HCP) profiling and targeted quantification of drug product-specific HCPs.

Acquisition adds mass spectrometry to Clean Cells platform

Protein characterisation is an important part of biopharmaceutical development and quality control, providing information about the structure and properties of biological products.

Mass spectrometry can be used alongside established analytical approaches to provide additional information about proteins and manufacturing-related impurities.

The acquisition of Anaquant gives Clean Cells access to mass spectrometry capabilities covering a range of biopharmaceutical applications, including monoclonal antibodies, recombinant proteins, phages and viral vectors such as adeno-associated virus and lentivirus.

Laurent Claisse, CEO of Clean Cells, said: “Anaquant is highly complementary to Clean Cells, bringing unique expertise that addresses a growing need in biopharmaceutical development.”

Anaquant’s capabilities are intended to support developers from the early stages of product development, with analytical methods designed to generate data that can contribute to later regulatory submissions.

Clean Cells said the acquisition will create an analytical offering covering the development lifecycle, with Anaquant supporting upstream research and development while Clean Cells provides GMP testing as programmes progress towards regulatory submission.

ReadyBeads technology targets host cell proteins

The transaction also brings ReadyBeads into the Clean Cells portfolio.

The technology is designed for HCP profiling and targeted quantification of specific HCPs, which are residual proteins originating from the cells used during biopharmaceutical manufacturing.

HCPs are considered process-related impurities and need to be monitored and controlled as part of biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing.

ReadyBeads is used across different types of biopharmaceutical products, including monoclonal antibodies, recombinant proteins and viral vectors.

Clean Cells said the addition of the technology will support clients in generating analytical datasets for product quality assessment and regulatory submissions.

The company said the acquisition reflects growing demand for more advanced approaches to protein characterisation and HCP analysis.

Anaquant team joins Clean Cells

Anaquant is based in Lyon, France, and its team will join Clean Cells following the acquisition.

Tanguy Fortin, founder and CEO of Anaquant, will continue to lead the protein analytics activity.

Fortin said: “Joining Clean Cells means we can now take this a step further. The GMP infrastructure and commercial reach that Clean Cells brings are exactly what we need to serve clients across the full development lifecycle, not just at the research stage.”

The acquisition is expected to provide biopharmaceutical developers with access to analytical support across multiple stages of development, from early method development through to GMP testing.

Clean Cells is part of the Clean Biologics Group, while healthcare-focused private equity firm ARCHIMED is its majority shareholder.

Ludovic Alonzi, partner at ARCHIMED, said the acquisition would strengthen the group’s position as demand grows for mass spectrometry-based protein analytics.

The acquisition comes as biopharmaceutical manufacturers face increasing requirements to characterise biological products and monitor manufacturing-related impurities.

By combining Anaquant’s mass spectrometry and protein characterisation capabilities with Clean Cells’ GMP testing infrastructure, the companies aim to provide a single analytical service covering a wider part of the biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing process.