The UK firm outlined its plan this morning, explaining it had launched a strategic review of its biological contamination control business on the basis that an organisation with a greater international reach may be able to help it grow more quickly.
“The Board recognises that global corporations with substantially greater international sales and marketing resources may be able to capture market share and grow product-related revenues much more quickly than Bioquell is able to do on a standalone basis.
“Such accelerated revenue growth could be achieved with a partner in a number of ways including co-promotion, distribution, joint ventures or by business combination.”
Investor interest
The other rational for the review is increasing investor interest in the biopharmaceutical industry and growing concerns about antibiotic resistant bacteria, both of which are potential growth opportunities for Bioquell according to the firm.
Bioquell makes contamination control technologies and processing equipment for pharmaceutical manufacturers, defence contractors and the international healthcare industry.
Announcement of the review comes just weeks after Bioquell sold its TRaC Global unit – a specialist testing and certification firm that supplies a variety of sectors – to Element Materials Technology for £44m ($68m).
The TRaC divestiture left Bioquell with its aseptic facility design and development unit, which serves the pharmaceutical industry, a division which supplies military hospitals and a division that installs environmental control systems in vehicles.