Bridgehead International has announced today
the sale of Pharmalicensing Ltd. ("Pharmalicensing"),
to UTEK Corporation, an AMEX and LSE-AIM listed company focused
on technology transfer.
Bridgehead acquired Pharmalicensing in June
2003 to strengthen the company's service offering in the licensing
and alliances space. Over the past four years, Pharmalicensing
has reinforced its position as a leading provider of business
development support to the biopharmaceutical industry, through
the company's
on-line resource centre, Pharmalicensing.com. During this
same period, Bridgehead has also seen its consultancy business
change significantly, with a shift away from licensing support
projects and significant growth in higher value consultancy
activities in Market Access and Technical and Commercial Evaluation
and Due Diligence.
As a result of the strategic review, undertaken
in quarter II 2007, Bridgehead's senior management team agreed
upon a number of key steps to accelerate business growth prior
to creating liquidity for shareholders within the next 3-5
years. These included:
Reinforcing the position of Healthcare
Education Services as a leading provider of therapeutic training
courses.
In addition, the Pharmalicensing business
was highlighted as an area that did not fit with Bridgehead's
longer-term strategic aims and was, therefore, considered
a target for divestment. In implementing this decision,
however, Bridgehead has been keen to identify potential
partners with the ability to further develop the Pharmalicensing
business.
Bridgehead are obviously delighted with
the successful conclusion of the divestment process, which
has been lead by Bridgehead Chairman, David Alcraft and
believe that UTEK represents pretty much the perfect partner
for Pharmalicensing.
Commenting on the deal, Clifford M. Gross,
UTEK's Chief Executive Officer stated that "we believe
that the acquisition of Pharmalicensing fits our strategy
of becoming the leading provider of Open Innovation services
and expands our existing operations within the UK market.
We look forward to the opportunity to integrate and grow
the business with UTEK's unique technology transfer capabilities".
Bridgehead wishes Pharmalicensing and
UTEK every future success.
