October 1, 2017
A team of lawyers from McGuireWoods’ Brussels office helped Belgium-based Pluriomics establish Ncardia — a new privately held biotech group with operations in Europe and the United States — through a complex cross-border merger with its German-based competitor Axiogenesis.
Ncardia secured an additional €4.25 million investment from existing investors Vesalius Biocapital, SFPI/FPIM and Sambrinvest as a direct result of the merger, announced Sept. 18.
Ncardia produces and commercializes high-quality, fully functional human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) and develops and realizes electrophysiology-, biochemistry- and contraction-based assays for predictive safety pharmacology, toxicology testing and drug efficacy screenings.
The combined business allows Ncardia to build on more than two decades of knowledge, stem cell product research and development, and commercialization by Pluriomics and Axiogenesis.
Led by partner Timothy Speelman, the McGuireWoods team that represented Pluriomics included partners Hubert André-Dumont and Paul Van den Bulck and associates Nathalie Locht and Raphael Krowicki. The Brussels M&A team is listed in The Legal 500 UK 2016 guide and was named Best Private M&A Law Firm in Belgium for 2016 by Acquisition International magazine.