[January 2020]
GHO Capital invests in FairJourney Biologics, a global leader in monoclonal antibody discovery services for biopharma
Global Healthcare Opportunities, or GHO Capital Partners LLP, the European specialist investor in healthcare, announces its investment to partner with the founding management team in FairJourney Biologics (‘FairJourney’), a leader in providing antibody discovery services to global biopharma.
Established in 2012 in Porto, Portugal, FairJourney provides outsourced antibody discovery, engineering, production and characterization services to deliver a critical step in the biologics drug discovery value chain for small and mid-sized biopharma. An extensive track record in over 460 antibody discovery projects delivered with a best-in-class 99%+ success rate have underpinned a topline growth CAGR in excess of 30% in recent years with the Company currently serving over 70 customers globally.
Richard Hall, CloudOrigin CEO and Founder, led the Technology and Operational Due Diligence for GHO: “Once again we had the privilege to advise GHO on another exciting life sciences project, where FairJourney has made significant investments in a bespoke core technology platform to support business growth and agility, integrating third-party specialist software solutions with purpose built project management and collaboration modules”.
Led by its founders, Antonio Parada and Maria Gonzalez-Pajuelo, FairJourney has established a market leading reputation for quality, reliability and service delivery flexibility. From state-of-the-art facilities, the Company operates a science led and customer focused business model, delivered by a uniquely technically skilled workforce – over 90% of employees are PhD or MSc qualified.
FairJourney serves a high growth end market, estimated to be expanding at c. 15% p.a. and driven by multiple macro tailwinds including i) consistent growth in global pharma R&D expenditure, ii) the increasing share and importance of biologics in the R&D pipeline and iii) the trend towards outsourcing across the biopharmaceutical industry. Biologics currently represent an estimated 40% and growing share of the total pharmaceutical molecule pipeline with FairJourney providing services to the fastest growing subcategories.
In partnership with founding management, GHO will provide further capital, sector expertise and international network to build on FairJourney’s unique market position and create a scaled global leader in outsourced biologics discovery and development services. The Company will look to expand its footprint, capacity and service capabilities through both organic and inorganic opportunities to accelerate and deliver the next stage of growth.
Antonio Parada, CEO of FairJourney, commented: “We have chosen to partner with GHO not only for our shared vision but also our common values. With their recent track record of creating transatlantic leaders in the outsourced services space, significant global network and expertise in biologics we can take our proven business model to a new scale. We will deliver more services and capacity to our growing global client base with a continued focus on the quality, flexibility and speed of our service delivery.”
The Partners at GHO Capital, commented: “This investment in FairJourney is the result of several years’ work by our team to identify market leading platforms with outstanding management in the biologics space. FairJourney have developed a differentiated proposition with a standout reputation for quality and customer service. With our investment and specialist expertise, Antonio, Maria and the team are well placed to realize our shared ambition for FairJourney to become a global leader in the outsourced discovery and development of biologics.”
The following advisors assisted GHO with their investment in FairJourney: Reed Smith, Vieira de Almeida, Alvarez & Marsal, Telles Advogados, Deloitte, L.E.K. Consulting, Willis Towers Watson, CloudOrigin, BioProcess Technology Group.
The following advisors assisted FairJourney on the investment from GHO: Torreya Partners, CTSU, BDO, Primaz Advogados.
About FairJourney Biologics
FairJourney Biologics is a leading biologics CRO, providing integrated services across antibody discovery, engineering and production to global biopharma. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Porto, FairJourney has grown to over 90 highly technically skilled employees today. The Company operates a flexible, customer-oriented ‘one-stop shop’ approach to biologics development focused on quality, reliability and partnership. FairJourney has successfully completed more than 460 projects for over 70 customers across big pharma and leading biotech companies to date. The Company’s significant expertise in phage display technology, combined with a diverse approach to generating both immune and naïve antibody libraries have contributed to a market leading 99%+ project success rate.
About GHO Capital
Global Healthcare Opportunities, or GHO Capital Partners LLP, is a leading specialist healthcare investment advisor based in London. We apply global capabilities and perspectives to unlock high growth healthcare opportunities in Europe, building market leading businesses of strategic global value. Our proven investment track record reflects the unrivalled depth of our industry expertise and network. We partner with strong management teams to unlock value in a global system that demands the delivery of better, faster, more accessible healthcare.
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