How does a scientist with no business background go from conceptualizing a business to being acquired by an international contract research organization (CRO) with locations in seven countries?
“If people are starting a business or in a business, there’s nothing better than Pipeline and they need to get involved,” said Dr. Alfred Botchway, Ph.D., founder and CEO of Xenometrics, a Kansas City-based CRO that specializes in the non-clinical assessment of new drug candidates.
Jason Tatge, Co-founder and CEO of Farmobile and another Pipeline graduate, echoes Botchway’s praise of the program, and of Botchway himself.
“[Botchway] has grown a lot since I met him, both from a business standpoint and from a friendship standpoint and I couldn’t be happier,” said Tatge. “Nobody works harder than he does to really pull the community together. He’s very involved in Pipeline and all our activities and he’s a staple of the organization.”
Botchway was a 2008 Pipeline fellow and according to Joni Cobb, President and CEO of Pipeline, he’s been just as active, if not more active, in the Pipeline program every year since. Once fellows graduate from the program, they stay onboard with member programming and receive professional development for years to come.
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“Being part of the program gave me all the resources to understand the business. The best way to describe Pipeline is a crash-course MBA. You do it in a year in four modules,” said Botchway. “It’s been the best thing that ever happened to me and the company.”
Botchway is speaking first-hand to the benefits that Pipeline can have on a business’s growth. At the end of October, CiToxLAB Group, a leading player among non-clinical CROs, announced the acquisition of Botchway’s Xenometrics.
“We were actively looking for an investment opportunity in the US as part of our growth strategy,” said Dr. Jean-Francois Le Bigot, Chairman and CEO of CiToxLAB Group. “This is important to better serve our US clients and I am very happy that we have identified the right opportunity with Xenometrics and successfully closed this acquisition.”
Xenometrics offers comprehensive services in the fields of safety, pharmacology and pharmacokinetics to customers from the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and chemical industries. With a staff of around 100, the company has built a strong scientific reputation from its home in Kansas City.
“For us, this is a step up into a group that’s been around for 30 years and knows the business. It’s going to be a good thing for the company,” said Botchway. “We are very proud that a leader like Citoxlab decided to invest in our company.”
With the addition of Xenometrics, CiToxLAB Group has consolidated revenues of $148 million and a staff of 1,200, in France, Canada, Hungary, Denmark, and now the United States.
Both Botchway and CiToxLAB are excited to be in Kansas City, and he says he has no plans to leave the city and the people that have helped him in his Xenometrics journey.
“We’re tied to KC, I’m definitely tied to KC.”
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Christine McGuigan is the Managing Editor of Silicon Prairie News.
