Simulations Plus, Inc. (Nasdaq: SLP), a leading provider of simulation and modeling software for pharmaceutical discovery and development, today announced that it has acquired Lixoft of Paris, France. Lixoft was founded in 2011 by Jérôme Kalifa and Marc Lavielle to design software solutions based on scientific breakthroughs to reduce the cost and increase the success rate of new drug development.
Pursuant to the Share Purchase and Contribution Agreement (the “Agreement”) signed on March 31, 2020, and closed on April 1, 2020, Lixoft has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Simulations Plus, Inc. (“Simulations Plus”) and will continue to operate under the Lixoft name. This accretive acquisition is expected to add more than $3.5 million to the revenues of Simulations Plus in the coming fiscal year 2021.
Shawn O’Connor, chief executive officer of Simulations Plus, said: “Lixoft has established itself with the highly regarded Monolix Suite as a leading provider of population PKPD modeling functionality, building a strong and rapidly growing installed base in the pharmaceutical industry. It represents an additional complementary software product to our existing offerings and provides for an attractive expansion of our range of consulting services. Finally, it provides us increased presence in the European geographic area with experienced executive management. I look forward to Jérôme Kalifa (cofounder and chairman) and Jonathan Chauvin (chief executive officer) joining our executive management team as well as the whole Lixoft team.”
“Joining Simulations Plus, which has long served as a role model for Lixoft, is an ideal opportunity for us to increase exposure and leverage the robust Simulations Plus infrastructure for sales and distribution,” commented Jérôme Kalifa, Lixoft cofounder and chairman.
Jonathan Chauvin, Lixoft CEO, added, “This combination will enhance our ability to serve our clients’ consulting service needs. We believe this is an opportunity to add incremental value to our customers.”
John Kneisel, chief financial officer of Simulations Plus, added, “We expect this deal to contribute to our pretax cash flow going forward and be immediately accretive to earnings. It will not affect our ability to continue to distribute dividends, which is determined by the Board of Directors on a quarterly basis in its discretion.”