Wolf Theiss advises QPS Holdings, LLC on the sale of its neuropharmacology business unit, QPS Neuropharmacology, to Scantox

Vienna, 06 December 2023 – Wolf Theiss advised leading drug development CRO (Contract Research Organization) QPS Holdings on the sale of 100% of the shares in its neuropharmacology business unit, QPS Neuropharmacology, to leading Nordic pre-clinical GLP-accredited CRO Scantox.

Wolf Theiss advised QPS Holdings, LLC on all Austrian law aspects of this transaction including drafting and negotiating the transaction documents, a pre-closing carve-out, merger control and FDI. The transaction was signed on November 29th, 2023.

The Wolf Theiss team was led by Doris Buxbaum (Counsel, Corporate/M&A), Clara Gordon (Partner, Corporate/M&A), Niklas Schmidt (Partner, Tax) and Karin Spindler-Simader (Consultant, Tax).  Additional members of the team included Guenter Bauer (Partner, Competition), Kurt Retter (Partner, Regulatory), Matthias Unterrieder (Partner, Employment), Paulina Pomorski (Counsel, IP & TMT), Magdalena Ziembicka (Senior Associate, Employment), Dominik Engel (Senior Associate, Regulatory), Julia Male (Associate, Corporate/M&A), Sophie Weber (Associate, Competition) and Pascal Gstoettner (Associate, IP).

Ropes & Gray LLP (Boston) acted as lead counsel to QPS Holdings.

“Our multidisciplinary team was well equipped to provide our client with the full scope of legal expertise that this transaction required”,

says Clara Gordon, Partner, Wolf Theiss Vienna.

“We were delighted to assist our client on this challenging transaction, and to capitalize on our expertise in the sector to support our client’s strategic divestment”,

says Doris Buxbaum, Counsel, Wolf Theiss Vienna.

“The transaction involved many complex legal issues, among which tax issues played a major role“,

added Karin Spindler-Simader, Consultant, Wolf Theiss Vienna.

QPS is a GLP/GCP-compliant contract research organization (CRO) delivering the highest grade of discovery, preclinical, and clinical drug development services. Since 1995, it has rapidly expanded from a small bioanalysis shop to a full-service CRO with 1200+ employees in the US, Europe, India and Asia. Today, it offers expanded pharmaceutical contract R&D services with special expertise in Neuropharmacology, DMPK, Toxicology, Bioanalysis, Translational Medicine, and Clinical Development.

Scantox is the leading Nordic pre-clinical GLP-accredited CRO. Its focus lies in pharmacology and regulatory toxicology. The company is headquartered in Denmark with one domestic subsidiary and three additional subsidiaries in Sweden. Based on decades of experience, Scantox is a trusted partner for product development services within the pharmaceutical, biotech and medical devices industries and is world-renowned for its expertise with Göttingen minipigs. Founded in 1977, Scantox is currently owned by Impilo, the leading Nordic healthcare investment company.