France-based international supplier of the pharma and biotech industries, Sartorius Stedim Biotech (SSB), has acquired Cellca based in Laupheim, Germany, for an undisclosed sum.

The company with around 30 employees and sales revenue of about €6 million in 2014 performs toll process development for biopharmaceutical companies as well as biosimilar firms that do not have extensive in-house development facilities.

Through the acquisition, Sartorius Stedim Biotech said it is further expanding its service offering for process development. SSB has already strengthened this segment by its two recent acquisitions of BioOutsource in April of this year and TAP Biosystems in December 2013.

Reinhard Vogt, member of the SSB executive committee for marketing and sales, said that together with the company’s single-use products, media and testing services, “we are creating an attractive package, above all for young biopharmaceutical companies that need robust processes for the manufacture of their biologics."

Being acquired by Sartorius Stedim Biotech gives Cellca a strong base to further expand and develop its business internationally, said managing director Hugo de Wit.