Nuclea Biotechnologies Acquires Manufacturing Company
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Nuclea Biotechnologies will now be able to manufacture and sell its products with the purchase of a Cambridge company.
Nuclea has reached a $5 million deal to purchase Wilex Inc., the United States subsidiary of the German Wilex AG, and take control of a 20,000 square-foot facility and 11 employees, with the expectation of hiring seven more. The move turns Nuclea from strictly development to commercialization.
"This brings Nuclea to fully commercial," CEO Pat Muraca said on Friday. "We are now able to manufacture our own products where before we had to use third-party manufacturers to do most of the work."
Nuclea specializes in developing pharmaceutical and diagnostic procedures for the medical industry. Its clients include Boston Medical Center and the Dana Farber Institute.
The Pittsfield-based Nuclea will now inherit a $2.5 million loan the subsidiary had with the parent company as well as provide $2.5 million in work to develop a new product for Wilex AG.
"We are inheriting the debt guaranteed from Wilex AG," Muraca said.
Wilex Inc. already has two products in the marketplace that will provide ongoing revenue for Nuclea and streamlines the company's ability to get new products on the market.
"This is accelerated growth for Nuclea," Muraca said. "It is the next milestone... it allows us to put our products into he market."
Muraca said the purchase came together in about 10 weeks. In March, the two companies hashed out a licensing agreement for access to one of the company's products and the two had a "synergy." The deal was complicated, Muraca said, but "is really good for Nuclea."
"We will pick up all operational expenses, 11 employees and a 20,000 square-foot manufacturing facility," Muraca said. "This is a state-of-the-art facility in Cambridge."
The additional seven employees will be added to sell the products, he said. While the Cambridge facility is "state of the art," Muraca said he will be looking at moving the manufacturing to Pittsfield if and when a life science center is built at the William Stanley Business Park, which is overseen by the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority.
"If life sciences really takes off at PEDA, then it is a real possibility that we can move the facility here," he said.
Last year, the company's headquarters moved into a 1,700 square-foot office in the William Stanley Business Park and launched a collaboration with Berkshire Community College and the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts to create the pipeline of employees for a life science industry. The company also has operations in Worcester.
Nuclea has developed and is commercializing unique diagnostic tests for colon, breast, leukaemia, lung and prostate cancer.
Tags: business park, cancer research, expansion, life sciences, PEDA,
