12/01/2015 | Announcement
Ironwood Capital Connecticut Announces Exit of Investment in AxioMx Through a Sale to Abcam plc
AVON, CONNECTICUT, December 1, 2015 – Ironwood Capital Connecticut, a unit of Ironwood Capital, is pleased to announce the exit of an investment in AxioMx, Inc. through a sale of the company to Abcam plc, a global leader in the supply of life science research tools. Abcam is headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom. The purchase price was $20 million with further performance-based payments.
“AxioMx is an ideal fit with Abcam,” stated John Strahley, Ironwood Capital managing director. “We are excited about the potential of this deal and pleased that AxioMx is presented with opportunities for global growth.”
AxioMx, founded in 2012 by Dr. Michael Weiner and Christopher McLeod, is based in Branford, Connecticut, where it has 28 employees. It has created a powerful and scalable in vitrorecombinant monoclonal antibody technology which complements Abcam’s existing antibody and immunoassay capabilities by targeting attractive and growing markets that traditional in vivo antibody production methods struggle to address. As part of the integration with Abcam, AxioMx will be re-focused to develop highly validated recombinant antibodies for inclusion in the Abcam catalogue, combining this technology with Abcam’s digital platform, brand and customer service capabilities. The ability to produce highly validated antibodies is a key element of Abcam’s strategy to increase the value of its products to the scientific community. After an initial period of investment and production scale up, AxioMx is expected to contribute both to revenue growth and profitability in the next few years.
“Ironwood Capital supported our company during our early growth stage,” commented Christopher McLeod, president and CEO of AxioMx. “We are grateful for their support and pleased that our vision for AxioMx has been endorsed by Abcam.”
About Ironwood Capital
Ironwood Capital is a Connecticut-based private equity firm that provides non-control growth capital to middle market companies. Ironwood Capital has invested, directly and indirectly, approximately $600 million in over 100 companies across the United States, including $128 million in 39 Connecticut-based companies. Ironwood Capital Connecticut works exclusively with Connecticut-based companies seeking capital across the entire financing spectrum from equity through senior debt. Likewise, it seeks companies at every lifecycle stage from start-ups to mature companies. For more information, please visit www.ironwoodcap.com.
About AxioMx
AxioMx is both a leading innovator of phage display antibody technologies and a leading provider of recombinant antibody development and production services. The current monoclonal and polyclonal antibody development paradigm is too slow and does not always result in consistent, renewable, and quality antibodies. Until recently the timelines and cost of phage display protocols have made the method impractical for most research and diagnostic reagent purposes. AxioMx’s innovative improvements to traditional phage display methods now make phage display a favored approach to antibody development for research, diagnostic, and therapeutic applications. For more information, go to: www.axiomxinc.com.
