Arsenal Capital Acquires Caprion Biosciences to Advance Oncology Diagnostic Platform

On July 31, 2019, VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) learned that healthcare investment firm Arsenal Capital had acquired Caprion Biosciences, a biotechnology company under GHO Capital Partners. The specific terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Caprion Biosciences, a biotechnology company founded in 2015 and headquartered in Montreal, Canada, operates laboratories in Canada, the United States, Belgium, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Established by Seungpyo Hong, PhD, and Andrew Wang, MD, Caprion employs 107 professionals, 67 of whom hold doctoral or master’s degrees. Over the past three years, the company has achieved a 22% revenue growth by leveraging its expertise and differentiated technological capabilities. Caprion is committed to delivering high-standard oncology diagnostic services, enabling physicians to make appropriate treatment decisions based on individual patient conditions.

Caprion Biosciences is developing an advanced oncology diagnostic platform called CapioCyte™, designed to capture circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from blood. This platform helps researchers further elucidate the role of CTCs and identify specific patient subpopulations for clinical trials, thereby facilitating the development of novel anticancer drugs. CapioCyte™ offers higher capture sensitivity than existing diagnostic platforms. It also enables molecular analysis of captured CTCs, such as FISH, RNA-Seq, and NGS, which may play a significant role in future clinical patient management.

Caprion Biosciences was acquired by GHO Capital on July 5, 2016. GHO Capital is a leading specialized healthcare investment advisory firm based in London. Under GHO’s ownership, Caprion Biosciences received significant investments to develop laboratory information management systems and expand its business operations, thereby achieving rapid growth. Guided by GHO, Caprion doubled its total value and emerged as a leader in the field of immuno-oncology.

Arsenal Capital is a leading private equity firm focused on investing in mid-sized healthcare companies. Since its inception in 2000, Arsenal Capital has raised $5.3 billion in institutional equity funds and completed more than 40 investments. The firm specializes in identifying companies with initial enterprise values ranging from $100 million to $500 million, partnering with their management teams to drive rapid growth and achieve market leadership.

Martin LeBlanc, President and Chief Executive Officer of Caprion Biosciences, commented, “We are delighted to have reached this collaboration. We look forward to further expanding our customer base in the field of immuno-oncology and continuing to grow our business in European and international markets.”

Mike Mortimer, a partner at GHO Capital, stated, “Caprion is a world-class company, and immuno-oncology is a highly attractive and rapidly growing field. Leveraging the favorable market environment in immuno-oncology, Caprion is well-positioned to continue expanding its global footprint.”

(Compiled by Hu Yifan)