KBI Biopharma, Inc. (KBI) has completed the acquisition of the assets of Elion Labs (Elion), a leading contract services organization in Louisville, CO founded to serve the analytical development and product characterization needs of the biopharmaceutical industry. Elion’s services include analytical method development, qualification and validation, characterization of biologics, and comprehensive data analysis including visualization and interpretation of complex data sets.

This acquisition further strengthens KBI’s analytical and biophysical characterization capabilities following the company’s acquisition of Alliance Protein Laboratories in June 2017. It complements KBI’s neighboring Boulder, CO facility which is focused on development and manufacturing of microbial processes and houses some of KBI’s unique analytical service offerings, such as its Particle Characterization Core Facility. All of Elion’s staff will join KBI, including co-founders John Gabrielson, Brent Kendrick, and Kelly Arthur, who will continue to oversee operations at the Louisville, CO facility.

“Elion has rapidly built a vibrant, growing business and an outstanding reputation for their expertise in characterization of biologics, and we are thrilled to welcome their exceptional team and leadership to KBI,” said KBI President and CEO Tim Kelly. “KBI built our foundation on world-class analytical capabilities which remain at the heart of our business. By incorporating Elion into our company, and combining their unique expertise with Alliance and KBI’s well-established facilities in North Carolina and Colorado, we have established the most powerful analytical capabilities in the biopharmaceutical CDMO industry.”

KBI has aggressively expanded its capabilities in the last 12 months. In addition to expanding its existing Durham, NC and Boulder, CO facilities, the company has added cell therapy development and manufacturing in The Woodlands, TX, integrated the Selexis cell line development technology into its mammalian cell culture development and manufacturing platforms in NC, and completed the acquisition of Alliance Protein Laboratories in San Diego.

“Combining Elion’s analytical expertise with KBI’s broad range of CMC capabilities opens up exciting new opportunities for analysis of biologics, and ultimately, for better serving patients,” said John Gabrielson, CEO and founding partner of Elion Labs. “This transaction with KBI will enable development of new analytical capabilities to help biopharmaceutical companies develop safer, more effective drugs and deliver them to patients faster.”

To date, KBI has helped to advance more than 300 molecules in more than 70 unique health indications. With the addition of these expanded analytical capabilities, and by adding a laboratory facility on the West Coast, KBI will continue to accelerate an even broader range of drug development programs for its global client base.