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Bruker (BRKR) to Support Biopharma Industries With New Buyout

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Bruker Corporation (BRKR - Free Report) recently announced the acquisition of Optimal Industrial Automation and Technologies -- a provider of pharma and biopharma process analytical technology (PAT). The acquisition is intended to strengthen Bruker as a key software and solutions provider for small molecule, biologics and new drug modalities pharma companies.

For investors’ note, financial details of the acquisition have been kept under wraps. Optimal’s 2022 revenues are expected near $10 million, and Optimal’s revenue growth rate and operating margins are likely to prove accretive to Bruker in 2023 and beyond.

The recent acquisition is likely to fortify Bruker’s BioSpin business.

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Based in the U.K., Optimal specializes in automating a client’s R&D or manufacturing system to ensure a high level of efficiency in processes. As an integrated PAT solution provider, Optimal offers the development, testing, deployment and support of quality-centric pharmaceutical production systems.

The company manufactures the world-leading PAT Data Management software package --synTQ and the widely used integrated Print and Inspect system – synTI. The synTQ PAT software acts as an interface between multiple analytical instruments (spectral and univariate), multi-variate analysis (MVA) packages, manufacturing control systems and a range of adjacent software solutions to ensure quality in real-time.

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Being a vendor-agnostic biopharma solutions provider, Optimal can incorporate bioanalytical technologies into innovative drug discovery, development, PAT and quality control workflows, which can streamline the transition from development to biopharma manufacturing while fulfilling regulatory compliance.

Strategic Implications

Per Bruker’s management, the buyout of Optimal supports more wide-ranging solutions for the biopharmaceutical industry by adding the capabilities to integrate cutting-edge systems into biopharma manufacturing processes and workflows.

The Optimal biopharma tools and automation capabilities along with Bruker’s innovative and differentiated high-value NMR, mass spectrometry, SPR, molecular spectroscopy and X-ray scientific instruments, and life-science solutions, will enable Bruker’s global biopharma customers to bring efficacious and safe medicines to market more rapidly.

Industry Prospects

Per a report by Mordor Intelligence, the global biopharmaceuticals market was valued at $325.17 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $496.71 billion in 2026, at a CAGR of 7.32%. The growing geriatric population, rising chronic diseases, and increasing acceptance of and huge market demand for biopharmaceuticals are expected to drive the market.

Recent Developments

In March 2022, Bruker’s company, Canopy Biosciences, announced the commercial launch of the CellScape system. It is the next generation in ChipCytometry instrumentation, advancing the cutting-edge for quantitative in situ spatial phenotyping. ChipCytometry offers single-cell targeted spatial proteomics for the complex whole-tissue analysis of the tumor microenvironment and deep immune profiling for immunology, neuroscience, and infectious disease applications.

In the same month, Bruker and Newomics announced collaborations on a novel liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) platform for drug discovery in the Pharma/Biopharma industry and research institutions. This latest collaboration is intended to build workflows using Newomics’s Microflow-nanospray Electrospray Ionization (MnESI) products for biologics and native mass spec applications on the Bruker mass spectrometers.

Price Performance

Shares of the company have lost 5.7% in a year against the industry's rise of 10.3%.

Zacks Rank and Other Key Picks

Bruker currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

A few other top-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are McKesson Corporation (MCK - Free Report) , AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (AMN - Free Report) and Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (BIO - Free Report) .

McKesson, carrying a Zacks Rank #2, reported third-quarter fiscal 2022 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $6.15, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.38 by 14.3%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

McKesson has a long-term earnings growth rate of 11.8%. MCK has gained 49.7% compared with the industry’s 4.7% growth in the past year.

AMN Healthcare, flaunting a Zacks Rank #1, has a long-term earnings growth rate of 16.2%. AMN Healthcare surpassed earnings estimates in the trailing four quarters, delivering a surprise of 19.5%, on average.

AMN Healthcare has outperformed its industry in the past year. AMN has gained 23.8% versus the 62% industry decline.

Bio-Rad reported fourth-quarter 2021 adjusted EPS of $3.21, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 11.9%. It currently has a Zacks Rank #2.

Bio-Rad has an earnings yield of 2.3% versus the industry’s negative yield. BIO surpassed earnings estimates in the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 66.9%.

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