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13th January 2010

Cambridge Consultants assists Consort Medical plc's £16.8m acquisition of the Medical House plc

• Expert appraisal of technology portfolio and due diligence supports significant acquisition as Consort Medical plc enters the fast-growing auto-injection sector

Cambridge Consultants, a leader in technology product design and development and technical consulting, recently conducted a comprehensive technical due diligence programme on behalf of Consort Medical plc in support of its entry into the fast-growing auto-injector market, including the £16.8m acquisition of the Medical House plc.

Consort Medical is a healthcare company focused on medical device technologies for drug delivery and hospital products for the management of patient airways.  Through its Bespak business, Consort Medical has a leading position in the manufacture of inhaled drug delivery devices for pharmaceutical partner companies as well as a significant emerging business in Metered Dose Inhaler (MDI) dose counters. 

The Medical House is a technology company that has developed a proprietary range of injection device technologies including auto-injectors and needle free injection devices.  It has been very successful in securing a number of pharmaceutical partner licensing deals for its products.  

Commenting on the acquisition, Jon Glenn, CEO of Consort Medical, said:  "The Medical House will become part of Consort Medical’s Bespak division, bringing new expertise in the design of auto-injectors, an exciting and fast-growing self-injection technology driven by the significant increase in use of injectable biologic drugs.  The Medical House also brings a newly-launched product as well as three important device development programmes on behalf of pharmaceutical company clients that are scheduled for launch in the next two years.  The incremental revenue from these launches alone is exciting, but the combination of Bespak’s scale and manufacturing experience with The Medical House’s proprietary drug delivery technologies and design capabilities will offer an increasingly compelling solution to the pharmaceutical industry."

Prior to its acquisition, Consort Medical wanted an independent technical appraisal of the Medical House’s platform technologies to ensure that its designs were robust and fit for purpose.  The company selected Cambridge Consultants both for its deep experience in the design and development of drug delivery devices, particularly injection device technologies, and for its track record in providing technical due diligence and consulting services. 

Commenting on the project, Martin Murphy, Project Manager at Cambridge Consultants, said:  "We carried out the due diligence over a six week period, working closely with Consort Medical and Medical House staff to fully understand the technology.  This process included a range of interviews and a full review of technology development history, from concept right through to suitability for manufacturing scale up.  The project included an interim review to discuss early observations and a final report and debriefing meeting once the work was completed."

Mr Murphy continued: "With our strong knowledge base and expertise in designing and developing injection device technologies, especially in the auto-injector segment, we were delighted that Consort Medical selected Cambridge Consultants to carry out this work and that it has resulted in a successful transaction."

Jon Glenn concluded:  "We were very pleased with the approach taken by Martin and his colleagues at Cambridge Consultants to provide us with a comprehensive risk assessed technical appraisal of The Medical House’s technology against demanding time constraints.  Their deep understanding, both of the technology and its commercial viability, has proved to be invaluable in this transaction, bringing significant value to the deal and minimising our exposure."

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