Quality by Design (QbD), a privately held company in Belgium offering quality solutions to companies in the life science and healthcare industries, today announced the acquisition of ‘Monkeys not Donkeys’ (MnD), a fast-growing agency offering communication consultancy and support services to life science companies. Founder Kristoff Baeten will stay on to further grow the agency and its reach under the wings of QbD.
By acquiring ‘Monkeys not Donkeys’, QbD will strengthen its ‘from idea to patient’ offering, building on the commercialization strategy offered by QbD’s joint venture with Inovigate, ‘Health to Market’ (H2M), to include communication and digital marketing expertise.
MnD will continue to offer its tailored communication support from strategy, through content creation, to assisting life science companies in their outreach. Together, both H2M and MnD will form QbD’s go-to-market, marketing & communication division.
Bart Van Acker, founder and CEO of QbD, said:
“Adding ‘Monkeys not Donkeys’ to our family takes us one step closer to achieving our mission to assist life science companies throughout the entire product life cycle by adding support for the often underestimated, but crucially important, marketing and communication strategy. ‘Monkeys not Donkeys’ are the ideal partners in this, with their unique combination of scientific knowledge, creative inspiration and experience in creating strategy, together with their proven process for building brand awareness and lead generation.”
Kristoff Baeten, founder and managing director of Monkeys not Donkeys, commented:
“This is a very exciting opportunity for the Monkeys. Since we hyper focused on life sciences and build a team of experts with a profound background in biology, the company has grown quickly as we have demonstrated that we were successfully addressing a need of communication support with knowledge of the industry and the science. We believe QbD is the right ‘home’ for us to continue that growth. Bart and I are very similar in our approach and, most of all, we both respect and help our customers to overcome the challenges they are facing.”
About the QbD Group
Since 2011, QbD has been providing quality solutions for product development and manufacturing. The QbD Group’s team offers the skills and expertise for solving complex problems for companies active in the life sciences. The QbD Group is headquartered in Belgium and has over 500 consultants worldwide in the Netherlands, Spain, France, the UK, Switzerland, Mexico, Colombia, and the US. For more information about the QbD Group, visit https://qbdgroup.com
QbD Group offers life science companies a range of services from idea to patient within seven divisions:
- Regulatory Affairs: We help our clients in their journey throughout the entire drug and medical device regulatory lifecycle.
- Clinical: We are an expert clinical solutions provider specialized in medical devices and biotech, offering global CRO services and consultancy.
- Qualification and Validation: We guarantee that products meet quality demands and comply with regulations through the qualification and validation of your equipment, facilities, and process support.
- Quality Assurance: We offer the full range of QA services necessary to get your product to market in a safe and compliant way, including auditing from certified auditors, setting up your QMS, and all QP (Qualified Person) activities.
- Lab Services: Our QC division consists of a GMP laboratory that offers analytical services for testing pharmaceutical raw materials, excipients, and release testing of finished products.
- Software Solutions & Services: Our solutions include a cloud-based and pre-validated QMS built for the life sciences, as well as eIFU services which enable IVD and MD manufacturers to digitalize paper Instructions For Use. Our range of services includes Computer System Validation and Digital Health services.
- Business & Communications: We offer marketing and communication services to all life science clients and strategic, tailor-made services for commercialization.
About ‘Monkeys not Donkeys’
Founded in 2010, Kristoff Baeten transformed his company into a full-service communication agency for life science organizations in 2018, by introducing the brand ‘Monkeys not Donkeys’. The brand name refers to the creativity, inventiveness and positivity that drives its dynamic and well-balanced team of scientists, creative profiles and strategists. (www.monkeysnotdonkeys.agency)
About H2M:
Health to Market (H2M) is a contract commercialization organization helping life science start-ups and scale-ups to define an effective commercial strategy and supporting their business development. H2M is a joint venture between QbD and Inovigate. (www.healthtomarket.com)