Two contract research organizations (CROs) have changed hands in the past two weeks. On March 17, Hamburg, Germany-based IPM Biotech was acquired by BioAgilytix, a portfolio company of Riverside Partners, in Durham, North Carolina. As its name implies, IPM Biotech specializes in biotech research, specifically in large molecule bioanalysis in the area of immunogenicity. The transaction expands BioAgilytix’s global footprint with IPM’s newly planned GLP and GMB laboratory facility. Its services complement IPM’s rich immunogenicity, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics expertise.

Less than a week later, LakePharma, Inc., a CRO in Belmont, California, acquired Blue Sky BioServices, of Worcester, Massachusetts. Blue Sky, a portfolio company of Ampersand Capital Partners, is a contract research organization (CRO) specializing in protein and antibody production and assay services. As a part of the transaction, Ampersand made an investment into LakePharma to support growth initiatives.

The combined company will be known as LakePharma, and is now the largest dedicated biologics CRO in the United States, providing a broad range of protein and antibody-related development services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology markets. Financial terms were not disclosed in either transaction.