Mercachem, a privately owned contract research organization in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, has agreed to acquire Synthon's Prague-based laboratory and pilot-scale operations for cGMP manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Synthon's divestment decision is based on its strategic initiative to concentrate all its R&D and manufacturing activities that currently take place in the Czech Republic in one location. Synthon is a specialty pharmaceutical/generic-drug company with headquarters in Nijmegen. The company employs about 1,400 staff worldwide, and in 2013 it recorded a turnover of EUR 215 million ($278 million).

All activities and projects relating to Synthon's own proprietary product portfolio carried out in Prague will be transferred to Synthon's fully integrated API R&D and production site in Blansko, also in the Czech Republic. As a result of the acquisition, all Synthon Prague employees will join Mercachem per the contractually agreed date of October 1, 2014.

“Mercachem is very excited to start carrying out scale-up and cGMP synthesis of drug substances in Prague for the purpose of clinical trials. In addition the company will perform contract manufacturing of small-volume commercial products and conduct all related research activities,” said Frank Leemhuis, managing director of Mercachem, in a company release. Mercachem currently occupies 4,000 square meters of research facilities in Nijmegen and employs approximately 135 chemists.

Source: Merachem