SAN DIEGO, BEIJING and SHANGHAI, Jan. 27, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- BioDuro, a leading global life sciences contract research and development organization, and Advent International, one of the largest and most experienced global private equity investors, today announced a partnership to support BioDuro's growth as a premier provider of integrated drug discovery, development and manufacturing services. Under the terms of the partnership, Advent has made a majority investment in BioDuro. Financial terms were not disclosed. BioDuro has operations in San Diego, California as well as Beijing and Shanghai, China, and is the preferred partner for some of the world's most exciting drug discovery and development projects. With its strong market position and customer satisfaction rates, the company is well-positioned to take advantage of robust growth in the healthcare services sector, with a focus on innovation and providing high quality integrated discovery services such as synthetic and medicinal chemistry, drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (DMPK), biologics and biology services, translational oncology services that include the "living tumor bank" acquired from Molecular Response and augmented by contract manufacturing to the large pharma and biotech sectors. BioDuro expects to invest in operational expansion, including a new research base in China, which will be in addition to its existing Beijing and Shanghai sites, and expansion of its current cGMP drug product and new preclinical discovery facilities in San Diego.

According to industry analysts, global pharma Rx (medical prescription) sales are expected to show robust growth and R&D spend, led by the upcoming launch of novel therapies and improved access to innovative medicines in emerging markets. Pre- clinical spending now accounts for approximately 33% of R&D spending and outsourcing is growing three times faster than in-house pre-clinical research, creating further opportunities for BioDuro.

BioDuro is uniquely positioned within China's fast growing US$2.5 billion pre-clinical CRO (Contract Research Organization) market, which is expected to grow at a 15% CAGR by 2022. In the US, the US$1 billion CDMO (Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization) market is expected to grow at a 10% CAGR by 2022.

Advent Operating Partner David Preston will become Chairman of BioDuro's Board of Directors and work alongside Advent Operating Partner Amit Patel who will also join the BioDuro Board of Directors. Each brings with them successful track records and deep experience in the healthcare industry in various capacities as founders, executives and advisors of global healthcare and life sciences companies.

Masood Tayebi, Ph.D., Chairman and Founder of BioDuro, said, "In Advent International, we have found a fantastic partner to help BioDuro accelerate our growth and better serve our clients. We see significant potential to leverage cross selling opportunities within our offering and ensure that we are meeting the needs of our clients across every stage of drug discovery and development."

Cyrus K. Mirsaidi, President and CEO of BioDuro, said, "We are excited about Advent's financial and strategic partnership which enables us to allocate new capital resources globally and garner institutional support to expand our service offering to clients. Working closely with our management team, who have all reinvested into the business, we will leverage Advent's depth of experience in the CDMO and CRO markets complementing the quality services we offer our customers and our track record of achieving higher value outcomes for clients. We will also look for M&A opportunities to achieve these goals as well as how to attract and retain the very best talent in the market."

Filippo de Vecchi, Managing Director and co-head of Greater China of Advent, commented, "Advent has closely followed the U.S. and Chinese healthcare sector over the past years and we view our partnership with BioDuro as an excellent opportunity to capture growth in the fast growing CRO and CDMO market worldwide. As global pharma and biotech companies increase their drug discovery efforts, BioDuro will be well positioned to increase market share by leveraging its superior quality reputation with the customers."

"With Advent's extensive experience in the healthcare sector globally we look forward to supporting the further growth of BioDuro, working closely with Dr. Tayebi and the existing management team to expand the firm's footprint globally."

Advent has significant investment experience in the healthcare industry. Over the past 28 years, the firm has invested US$6.7 billion in 41 companies in the sector across 14 countries worldwide. In addition to BioDuro, recent pharmaceutical and CRO investments include Zentiva, Grupo Farmaceutico Somar and Syneos Health, Inc. (NASDAQ: SYNH), formerly INC Research Holdings.

BioDuro is a leading, global life sciences contract research and development organization that provides biopharmaceutical clients and partners with comprehensive, fully integrated drug discovery services spanning target identification to IND filing, through to GMP manufacture of drug substance for clinical trials. With depth and breadth of therapeutic expertise in small and large molecule discovery, development and scale up, combined with unique technology platforms such as high content 3D drug screening, in-vivo translational models, and bioavailability enhancement of insoluble compounds, BioDuro is well positioned to help biopharmaceutical partners significantly accelerate their lead discovery programs, and de-risk development programs for higher value outcomes. Visit www.bioduro.com

BioDuro has been a portfolio company of the Bridgewest Group, a closely held investment company with significant assets under management in hi-tech and wireless technology, biotech and pharmaceuticals, real estate, banking and capital markets. Following Advent's majority investment, Bridgewest will continue as a partner and a shareholder in BioDuro.

Founded in 1984, Advent International is one of the largest and most experienced global private equity investors. The firm has invested in over 340 private equity transactions in 41 countries and as of September 30, 2018 it had $39 billionin assets under management. With offices on four continents, Advent has established a globally integrated team of more than 190 investment professionals across North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia. The firm focuses on investments in five core sectors: including business and financial services, healthcare, industrial, retail, consumer and leisure, and technology, media and telecom. After more than 30 years dedicated to international investing, Advent remains committed to partnering with management teams to deliver sustained revenue and earnings growth for its portfolio companies.