Repligen Reports Record Revenue, Continues on M&A Hunt

Repligen will launch several new filtration and chromatography offerings this year as its strategy of developing products based on technology acquisitions pays off.

For the first quarter 2018, Repligen Corporation reported record revenues of US$45 million (€38 million), up 46% on the same period last year.

The bioprocessing company attributed the results to strong sales of its filtration and chromatography products – up by over 90% year-on-year – bolstered by the $359 million acquisition of Spectrum in June 2017.

“Our filtration franchise has grown more than threefold over the last 12 months, with Spectrum contributing $11 million during the first quarter,” CEO Tony Hunt told investors on a conference call.

And according to CFO Jon Snodgres, the acquisition fitted with Repligen’s strategy to up its portfolio and bioprocessing presence through combining M&A and in-house R&D – a strategy he said it will continue to follow going forward..

“Part of our blueprint for success is a combination of being able to develop new products and also continue to look for great technology that’s out there,” he told investors.

“We’re absolutely continuing to look at our funnel of opportunities. And when something comes along that we think makes a ton of sense for us, we’ll absolutely act on it.”

Acquisitions

Repligen, traditionally a major Protein A chromatography media supplier, has diversified its business since Hunt arrived as CEO from Life Technologies in late 2014.

Already having added Refine’s Alternating Tangential Flow (ATF) system​ to bring a presence in the upstream, Hunt continued an M&A strategy through the $22.5 million acquisition of Atoll GmBH and the $39 million acquisition of Novasep subsidiary TangenX Technology, both in 2016.

Atoll beefed up Repligen’s own pre-packed chromatography column business, while TangenX added single-use tangential flow filtration (TFF) cassettes to its downstream offering.

Meanwhile, the Spectrum acquisition last year added hollow fiber cartridges, bench-top to commercial scale filtration and perfusion systems, and a range of single-use products to Repligen’s product portfolio.

Product Launches

The result of these acquisitions will make 2018 “all about new products,” Hunt said on the call, with multiple launches planned.

The firm launched its OPUS 80R pre-packed chromatography column – the largest available on the market – in March, but there will be a further “series of important product launches throughout the year as our R&D team delivers on developing expanded functionality for bench-top TFF systems and new controller technology for XCell ATF systems as examples.”

“We expect these new products to broaden our markets, fuel new revenue growth and reinforce our commitment to building our direct-to-customer product portfolio to internal R&D in addition to M&A.”