Reig Jofre increases its stake in Leanbio to 85%
The Catalan listed company allocates €3.5 million to buy shares to increase its stake from 47% to 85% of the capital
BarcelonaThe Catalan pharmaceutical company Reig Jofre has increased its stake in the biotechnology firm Leanbio from 47% to 85%, after acquiring shares from current partners for €3.5 million, as reported Tuesday to the Spanish National Securities Market Commission (CNMV). The remaining 15% of Leanbio's capital remains in the hands of the founding team and specialized shareholders, all committed to boosting the Spanish biotechnology ecosystem. This transaction represents a decisive strategic step in the evolution of Reig Jofre's business model, expanding its activity "towards a biopharmaceutical structure capable of encompassing the phases of research, design, process development, industrial production, and scale-up of biotechnological medicines." The increased stake in Leanbio, founded in 2014 by Dr. Andreu Soldevila and Albert Font, was achieved through the purchase of shares from existing partners. The integration is based on an alliance initiated in 2018 with the creation of the joint venture Syne Therapeutics, a 50/50 joint venture between the two parties for the development of biosimilars, and the subsequent acquisition of an additional 10% stake in Leanbio by Reig Jofre.
New plant
The cooperation between the two companies was strengthened in 2024 with an investment of 6.6 million euros to build a new active pharmaceutical ingredients plant biotech (drug substanceA GMP-certified facility in Sant Quirze del Vallès (Barcelona), a complex of nearly 4,000 square meters, is equipped to produce recombinant proteins, as well as plasmid DNA and mRNA. The facility also includes development laboratories, scale-up areas, pilot plants, and quality control. The center expects to begin operations in mid-2026 and employ over one hundred professionals when it reaches full capacity.
