Novotech, Singapore-headquartered full-service biotech specialist clinical research organization (CRO), announced that affiliates of GIC and Temasek have signed binding agreements to acquire a significant stake in the company, with the additional capital earmarked to accelerate its global growth.

Existing investor TPG will also reinvest through its TPG Asia fund, Novotech said in a statement on last Sunday.

According to the statement, the reinvestment by TPG Asia and investment from GIC and Temasek will allow Novotech to pursue further organic growth and transformative M&A opportunities.

This is part of Novotech’s ambition to become the first truly global biotech-focused CRO.

Novotech Chief Executive Officer John Moller welcomed the new investment and said the company was uniquely positioned to continue its growth in the Asia Pacific region, where demand for clinical trials is forecasted to grow at 15 percent a year, in addition to focused expansion in the US and Europe.

According to him, Novotech is already on its way to be a major global player in the CRO space, with 3,000 employees and experience across more than 6,000 clinical projects.

“We are excited by the new support of GIC and Temasek, and the continued support of TPG, as we continue to scale the business while maintaining our high-quality standards,” he noted.

He also highlighted that the firm has a commanding presence in the Asia Pacific region – which is only growing in popularity for global trials as the trend towards outsourcing continues, particularly among biotechs – and have made significant gains in the US and Europe through acquisitions.

“This investment will ensure we can continue our record of winning a growing share of larger, multi-region trials, particularly ones with a center of gravity in Asia, and it will also enable us to pursue larger, transformation acquisitions as our industry inevitably consolidates,” he added.

With a global presence across more than 30 offices, Novotech is one of the world’s leading full-service clinical CROs, providing biotech and small- to mid-sized pharmaceutical companies with an accelerated path to market.

The company currently has a global footprint across the Asia-Pacific region, North America and Europe, and partnerships with more than 5,000 trial sites.

The firm has a leading position in the most innovative areas of clinical research such as cell and gene therapies, radiopharmaceuticals and mRNA trials.

“Novotech’s growth and performance has been outstanding over the years, and we are delighted to remain involved for the next stage of its global expansion,

“Since our investment in 2017, Novotech has grown from a 300-person organization operating predominantly in Australia and New Zealand and some parts of Asia, to now a 3,000-person organization with a global presence,” said Joel Thickins, Co-Head of TPG Asia and Co-Managing Partner of TPG Capital Asia.

According to him, TPG has a long history of partnering with management teams to deliver long-term value creation, and by re-investing through TPG Asia.

Meanwhile, Vincent Wong, Co-Head of Healthcare, TPG Capital Asia, added that delivering high-quality healthcare relies on building great companies achieved through long-term commitment, and this transaction follows TPG’s playbook of doubling down on winners while further demonstrating TPG’s thematic investment approach and deep expertise in healthcare.

“Together with our history of partnering with Novotech, and TPG’s deep healthcare ecosystem that has been further strengthened with the recent establishment of a regional leadership model for healthcare investments across TPG Asia, we are well positioned to support Novotech in its multi-decade success story,” he added.

Choo Yong Cheen, Chief Investment Officer of Private Equity at GIC, commented that Novotech’s proven track record of delivering high-quality outcomes for its biopharma customers has taken them beyond APAC to global markets.

“We look forward to working with the management team and our partners in driving sustained growth by investing in organic initiatives and merger and acquisition (M&A),” he added.

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