Catalent is expanding into the lucrative gene therapy market with the purchase of Paragon Bioservices for $1.2 billion. A long-time gene therapy developer, Paragon has a track record in the use of viruses for gene delivery.

Catalent’s chair and CEO, John Chiminski, said the gene therapy company’s expertise in the rapidly growing market of gene therapy manufacturing will be “a transformative addition” that will accelerate Catalent’s long-term growth.

Paragon said it anticipates more than $200 million in revenue in 2019 and projected that the company will outrun the gene therapy market’s growth “for the foreseeable future.”