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JMI Announces Sale to Element Materials Technology

BroadOak Capital Partners advised JMI Laboratories (“JMI”) on the sale of the company to Element Materials Technology (“Element”). JMI is a leading provider of antimicrobial drug development, molecular testing, clinical trial support, and surveillance services to biotech and pharmaceutical companies.

The full press release is below.

Element strengthens pharmaceutical and biotech capability with JMI Laboratories acquisition

London, UK – November 4, 2021 – Element Materials Technology (Element) has signed an agreement to acquire JMI Laboratories (JMI) based in North Liberty, Iowa. Alongside several other significant acquisitions within the sector this year, this further strengthens Element’s offering for pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical customers in North America and beyond.

JMI is a market leader in antimicrobial resistance monitoring studies utilized for US-FDA regulatory and new drug application submissions, through their proprietary SENTRY Antimicrobial Surveillance Program. It offers microbiology and molecular testing services to assist in the development of new antimicrobials and clinical trial support. The Company is CLIA accredited and able to test under GLP conditions.

The business is notable for its team of highly scientific and well-published industry recognized experts in the field, including 10 MD/PhDs with extensive knowledge of microbiology and antimicrobials, and can consult on a broad range of scientific topics covering epidemiology, mechanisms of resistance in bacterial and fungal organisms, microbiology diagnostics and susceptibility testing methods.

Jo Wetz, Element CEO, said: “Element’s growing life sciences capability is now our most significant end market, and the acquisition of JMI further confirms our commitment and intention to continue to build a scale business in this vital sector. It follows on from our recently announced acquisitions which include ALG, Avomeen, Arch Sciences, Impact Analytical and Nanosyn, complementing our existing expertise and expanding our customer offering”.

“The acquisition significantly extends our life sciences capability and the ability to offer customers services right through from early stage drug development to post FDA approval surveillance programs.”

“JMI’s SENTRY surveillance program, with over 20 years of data from over 130 hospitals across 40 countries, is a real differentiator. Resistance to antibiotics is a clear and present threat to public health on a global scale. With JMI’s team of renowned experts, Element is now positioned to play an important role in helping to address the growing risk of antimicrobial resistance.”

JMI CEO, Andrew Fuhrmeister commented: “After 20 years of operation and having built a strong reputation for our expertise and client relationships, we are proud to be joining the Element group. This move will bring us wider global access through the Element network and will allow us to work within the expanded life sciences offering, building industry leadership.”

The JMI SENTRY surveillance program currently operates with over 130 hospitals around the globe, collecting clinical bacterial and fungal isolates from numerous infection sites including bloodstream, skin, respiratory, patients hospitalized with pneumonia, urinary tract, intra-abdominal, and invasive fungal infections. The company collects and tests over 40K isolates a year from over 40 nations to provide its pharmaceutical and biotech customers with data that is a strong representation of potential resistance issues in most regions across the globe. The acquisition of JMI is subject to approval from CFIUS.

Original Press Release