I first met Mark Bamforth, the president and CEO of Gallus BioPharmaceuticals, at a conference shortly after he had acquired/founded his CMO in St. Louis. The company was so new many of the employees at the event didn’t even have business cards. Three years later, Gallus is looking to expand, recently having announced the acquisition of Laureate Biopharma . Bamforth, a former executive of the Boston-based biotech Genzyme, has seen his share of M&As. When I asked him how long he expected the acquisition and integration process to take, he replied, “It never really finishes.” No truer words have ever been spoken. Bamforth shared his insights on how he goes about assessing a company for acquisition, the strategic rationale behind the acquisition, as well as keys to making the integration a success.