The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences, which sold its RTP property to Alexandria Real Estate Equities for $20 million, has shut down. A Durham firm has purchased some of its assets and hired personnel that were part of the Institute for Chemical Safety Sciences.

SciMetrika, a population health consulting company, disclosed its acquisition of the ICSS on Monday.

The ICSS will operate as part of ScitoVation, a wholly owned subsidiary of SciMetrika.

“The acquisition presents new opportunities for the SciMetrika group to expand into cell-based science and serve a broader range of customers in the commercial sector,” the company said.

ICSS scientific leadership and staff joined ScitoVation as of Jan. 1.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

  • A sad day for a 40-year-old dream: Why The Hamner is shutting down.

“Through ScitoVation, SciMetrika continues its mission to improve human health by becoming a leader in the conduct of studies using human cells and computational models,” said Dr. Jean Orelien, founder and CEO of SciMetrika, in a statement. “Both SciMetrika and former ICSS staff who are now part of ScitoVation share the same passion for improving human health through their work.”

ICSS was a key part of the Hamner, which was named after former N.C. Biotechnology Center CEO Charles Hamner. ICSS took on the name The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences and unveiled a long-term master plan to create a campus focused on life sciences.

Alexandria bought the Hamner land two years ago and recently announced its own plan to develop a campus on the property.

SciMetrika said it decided to acquire the ICSS division after The Hamner disclosed it was shutting down as of Dec. 31.

“Our alignment with SciMetrika will allow us to expand our research capabilities and explore new avenues for our chemical safety work,” said Rebecca Clewell, the former ICSS director who now is chief scientific officer for ScitoVation. “The staffs of both the new ScitoVation and SciMetrika are working hard to ensure that our operations seamlessly transition and that we are able to increase our collaboration to strengthen the services we offer clients, as well as our thought leadership in life sciences.”

The team will continue to work at lab space previously used by ICSS at The Hamner.

“After engaging in a search for potential partner companies, the former ICSS team believed that aligning with SciMetrika presented the best opportunity due to SciMetrika’s outstanding reputation and thought leadership within the population health community and life sciences industry as a whole,” SciMetrika said in the announcement.

The work of the ICSS will be broadened, according to SciMetrika.

“The expanded skill sets will enable both companies to leverage synergies and serve a broader range of customers including the chemical, agribusiness, consumer product and pharmaceutical industries,” the firm explained.

“For government clients, the expanded skill sets give SciMetrika the ability to provide additional expertise in the use of innovative tools for safety and risk assessment.”