Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has announced its acquisition of contact researcher PPD Inc for $17.4 billion to expand its pharmaceutical service business.
The US-based healthcare technology firm- Thermo Fisher will be paying $47.50 per share on Tuesday. While its shares closed at $494.38 on Thursday, PPD’s shares closed at $45.80.
The current investment will enable PPD to meet the COVID-19 requirements for key suppliers for drug-makers since Thermo Fisher supplies drug constituents to the biotech and pharmaceutical industry. In a move to fulfill the needs of Contract research organizations (CROs) that saw a bad year of disruption in clinical trials due to the novel coronavirus.
Last year, PPD went public and was hired by pharmaceutical and biotechnology company Moderna Inc. to look after the COVID-19 trial sites.
This deal will also add $1.40 to Thermo Fisher’s adjusted earnings per share, as expected by the end of this year.
In a statement, Chief Executive at Thermo Fisher, Mark Casper stated that the biotech and pharma sectors are reassessing the strength of their partner network and are planning to consolidate their activities with a handful of selected partners.