Solvias Completes Agreement with Strategic Healthcare Investors to Advance Expansion

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KAISERAUGST, Switzerland, June 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Solvias, a world leader in contract research, development and manufacturing, today announced that it has completed an agreement with strategic health care investors, Water Street Healthcare Partners and JLL Partners, to fully acquire and invest in growing Solvias.  The agreement is the next step in Solvias' expansion focused on building the company into a global leader of high-quality pharmaceutical laboratory services.

Solvias will engage Water Street and JLL's industry expertise and network of resources to extend the company's capabilities into new and complementary areas and expand its global reach.  Solvias also announced today that the health care firms helped recruit two seasoned pharmaceutical services executives to join its board of directors.  Solvias has appointed Michael J. Lehmann and Mario L. Rocci, Jr., PhD to join Karen J. Huebscher, PhD, chief executive officer and director of Solvias, on the company's board:

• Michael J. Lehmann, chairman, is the former chief commercial officer and president of global pharmaceutical development services for Patheon N.V., where he was instrumental in Patheon's transformation to a high-growth contract development and manufacturing organization.  Mr. Lehmann also spearheaded global early development for Covance Inc.  Most recently, he served on the board of BioAgilytix Labs.

• Mario L. Rocci Jr., director, has more than 30 years of leadership experience in the pharmaceutical services industry and is the former president of ICON plc's early phase clinical, laboratory, and scientific services division.  Dr. Rocci also served as chairman of the Product Quality Research Institute and president of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists.

"We're thrilled to be growing Solvias in partnership with our new investors and board," said Dr. Huebscher.  "Since Solvias' founding, we have continuously innovated and expanded our platform of testing, specialized pharmaceutical manufacturing products, analytical kits and services to offer our customers the highest level of scientific expertise and technical capabilities.  These newest initiatives support our goal of bringing greater value to our customers and positioning Solvias at the forefront of our industry."

Founded in 1999, Solvias has grown to serve more than 600 biotech, medical device, cosmetic and top multinational pharmaceutical companies.  In recent years, the company has extended its testing and analytical services to address biopharmaceutical products and emerging cell and gene therapies.  Solvias has remained fully operational during the current pandemic crisis, providing critical services to customers, including supporting their work to develop therapeutic options and vaccine candidates for COVID-19.

"Solvias is highly regarded for its outstanding quality of work, scientific expertise and commitment to continuous innovation.  Its work is critical to supporting organizations with bringing important, life-saving products to market.  I'm honored to work with Karen and her team to support their goal of building Solvias into a global industry leader," said Mr. Lehmann.

About Water Street
Water Street is a strategic investor focused exclusively on health care. The firm has a strong record of building market-leading companies across key growth sectors in health care. It has worked with some of the world's leading companies on its investments including Humana, Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic and Walgreen Co. Water Street's team is comprised of industry executives and investment professionals with decades of experience investing in and operating global health care businesses. The firm is headquartered in Chicago. For more information about Water Street, visit http://waterstreet.com.

About JLL Partners
JLL Partners is a middle market private equity firm with over three decades of experience transforming businesses in the healthcare, specialty industrials, and business services sectors. The firm is dedicated to partnering with companies that it can help build into market leaders through a combination of strategic mergers and acquisitions, organic growth initiatives, and operational enhancements. The JLL Partners team is comprised of seasoned investment professionals and operating partners who are focused on driving long-term value creation across its portfolio. Since its founding in 1988, JLL Partners has committed over $5 billion of equity capital across eight private equity funds, with over 50 platform investments and more than 190 add-on acquisitions. For more information, please visit http://www.jllpartners.com

About Solvias AG
Solvias is a world leader in contract research, development and manufacturing. The industries the company serves include pharmaceuticals, biotech, medical device and cosmetics. Headquartered near Basel, Switzerland, Solvias employs more than 550 highly qualified team members who work together to understand their customers' needs. Solvias takes pride in delivering innovative solutions that meet the highest quality standards. With its excellent infrastructure and unrivalled expertise, Solvias develops, analyzes and tests a wide range of biological and chemical substances and products. The company also offers one of the largest proprietary ligand portfolios for catalytic transformations and a suite of related custom synthesis and catalysis technology services. Drawing on the company's well-established scientific experience and proven track record, Solvias provides integrated services, products and technologies to help its customers bring safer and better products to market faster.

SOURCE Solvias