Confluence, a locally-grown company that was elevated, accelerated and incubated by BioGenerator, the investment arm of BioSTL, has been acquired by east coast biopharmaceutical company, Aclaris.

The acquisition marks one of the most significant startup exits by a St. Louis bioscience company. What’s more, the new owner will retain 40 local scientists, and plans to create more jobs and build out a new state-of-the-art lab in St. Louis in 2018.

Terms Disclosed

The financial terms of the deal provide for the St. Louis company to receive $20 million upfront, split equally as cash and stock and subject to customary adjustments.

The company’s shareholders are also eligible to receive up to $80 million in contingent payments upon the achievement of certain development, regulatory, and commercial milestones, as well as potential royalty payments on drug sales.

Investing in Startups to Re-invest in St Louis

BioGenerator, worked with the lead founder to form the company, build out labs, purchase instrumentation, develop a business plan, and raise capital to support the company’s research.

As a result of the acquisition, BioGenerator will see a return based on its $1.4 million investment in the bioscience startup, which will be reinvested into new St Louis companies and used to improve the STL innovation ecosystem.