Delaware company to acquire Bio-Kinetic

Bio-Kinetic, which designs and conducts Phase 1 clinical studies for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, will retain its name and become a wholly owned unit of QPS Holdings Inc. The Springfield company has a 240-bed facility.

QPS is a contract research company providing testing services for pre-clinical and clinical research and development. With its acquisition of Bio-Kinetic, QPS will be able to take drug development beyond discovery and preclinical testing into Phase 1 research, according to a news release.

Bio-Kinetic was founded in 1994 by Dale Bourg and Dave Koenigsfeld and has since completed more than 400 clinical studies and enrolled approximately 11,000 volunteers, according to the release.

The acquisition is being structured as a merger, with Bio-Kinetic shareholders receiving membership interests in QPS Holdings. Private equity firms Argentum Capital Partners and First Analysis Corp. will become equity holders of QPS along with Bourg and Koenigsfeld.

“The acquisition of Bio-Kinetic will provide our clients with access to industry experts in LC/MS/MS, ELISA, biomarkers and genotyping – complex procedures that can provide immense value in the decision-making process while developing a compound,” Bourg, Bio-Kinetic’s CEO, said in a news release.