Pivotal Scientific advises Absolute Antibody on its sale to LSBio

Pivotal Scientific are delighted to have advised the shareholders of Absolute Antibody, Ltd. (UK) and its sister company Kerafast on their sale to LSBio (USA).

Pivotal Scientific’s CEO, Tim Bernard, has been on the Board of Absolute Antibody since their inception in 2012. Throughout this time Tim has provided commercial and strategic advice, helping to facilitate their continued growth.

Absolute Antibody contacted Tim and the team at Pivotal Scientific earlier this year to promote and manage the sale of Absolute Antibody. Tim Bernard commented, ‘it has been a great honour to see Absolute Antibody grow from strength to strength and then prepare the company for sale. My Pivotal Scientific team expertly managed the M&A process and now I am excited to see how they develop with their new owners.’

Absolute Antibody specializes in recombinant antibody technology, offering antibody sequencing, engineering and recombinant production as custom services, as well as a unique catalog of recombinant antibodies and Fc Fusion proteins, engineered into new and useful formats. In 2018, Absolute Antibody merged with Kerafast Inc., a Boston-based company that facilitates access to unique laboratory-made reagents, to further the availability of recombinant antibodies. The new acquisition combines a strong recombinant antibody portfolio with LSBio’s expertise in application-specific validation to make sequence-defined, reproducible antibodies more widely available for IHC and other key research applications

“We are delighted to be joining forces with the LSBio team,” said Dr. Nicholas Hutchings, founder and CEO of Absolute Antibody. “Absolute Antibody was founded with a vision to make engineered recombinant antibodies accessible to all, and we have grown rapidly as the demand for recombinant antibody technology has increased. That vision remains and working with LSBio enables us to continue growing both the recombinant antibody catalog and our custom services, while still delivering the highest level of product quality and customer satisfaction.”

LSBio provides IHC-validated reagent antibodies and services to the global community of academic, pharmaceutical and biotech researchers. The company has built a catalog of more than 750,000 reagent antibodies, assay kits, proteins, and biochemicals, and its acquisition of Absolute Antibody and Kerafast further expands its product portfolio by adding a range of unique reagents and antibody services.

“We are very excited to add Absolute Antibody and Kerafast into the LSBio family of companies.” said Dr. Heather Holemon, CEO of LSBio. “It provides an opportunity to offer more to our customers by adding their recombinant antibody production and engineering capabilities as well as their highly complementary product portfolio. This transaction aligns with our goal of providing researchers access to what they are asking for as far as superior consistency and better validation.”

The acquisition marks the latest investment by LSBio to rapidly build its product portfolio. In 2019, LSBio acquired both Nordic-MUbio and Everest Biotech to strengthen the company’s offering of proprietary monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies. All LSBio companies currently retain their independent names, websites and employees, with the entire family of companies owned by the St. Louis-based private equity firm Thompson Street Capital Partners.