Thermo Fisher has opened its M&A war chest early in 2022, buying biopharma reagent firm PeproTech for $1.85 billion.

The deal, announced on December 30, closed yesterday, adding Cranbury, New Jersey-based reagent maker PeproTech to Thermo Fisher Scientific’s cell culture media offering.

Founded in 1988, PeproTech offers over 2,000 cytokines, antibodies, ELISA, and cell culture media kits for the development and manufacturing of biologics and cell and gene therapies.

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According to Thermo Fisher’s CEO Marc Casper, the acquisition “will be an excellent strategic fit within our biosciences business and will allow us to even better serve our pharma and biotech customers by adding new capabilities to our existing offering.”

He added: “In combination with our proprietary bioprocessing and cell culture technologies, this complementary transaction positions us to partner with our customers to drive the evolution of the fast-growing market for cell and gene therapies.”

PeproTech will be integrated into Thermo Fisher’s Life Sciences Solutions Segment, which clocked in sales of $3.72 billion in Q3 2021, up 9% on the same period 2020.

The deal represents the first act of M&A in 2021 for Thermo Fisher, which has grown into one of the largest life sciences services firms through its aggressive acquisition strategy. A list of the more recent deals include:

• The $17.4 billion acquisition of contract research organization (CRO) PPD in December 2021 (announced in April 2021)
• The acquisition of Belgium-based PharmaFluidics, developer of the μPAC range of micro-chip-based chromatography columns, in November 2021
• The addition of point-of-care molecular diagnostic company Mesa Biotech in February 2021 for up to $550 million
• The €725 million ($820 million) of Novasep’s Henogen viral vector manufacturing business in January 2021
• The acquisition of spectral dye firm Phitonex in December 2020
• The takeover of CSL Behring’s biomanufacturing site in Lengnau, Switzerland in June 2020