Pharmaron Beijing Co. Ltd. has acquired Aesica Pharmaceuticals’ Cramlington site from Recipharm.
 
The Cramlington site in Newcastle, UK, has an established history of cGMP manufacturing services for an array of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), ranging from pilot scale to commercial metric ton scale. The Cramlington site has more than 100 cubic meter reactor commercial capacity and has been inspected and approved by the MHRA, FDA and other regulatory authorities.
 
This acquisition expands Pharmaron’s chemistry and manufacturing services, which is an important component of its fully integrated platform. The synergistic integration of the Cramlington site with Pharmaron’s existing service capabilities of discovery, process development and early-stage cGMP API manufacturing at Hoddesdon will enable a complete end-to-end chemistry and manufacturing service offering in the UK. This addition further strengthens Pharmaron’s global service network to provide customized solutions to meet our partners’ geographic and strategic needs.
 
“We are delighted to have the Cramlington site join the Pharmaron Group,” said Boliang Lou, chairman and CEO, Pharmaron. “This acquisition complements and further enhances Pharmaron’s CMC capabilities in the UK and China. We are committed to expanding the Cramlington site to meet growing demand. Together with our API manufacturing facility expansion in China, this transaction is another important step in realizing our vision of becoming a leading global provider of integrated small molecule drug R&D and manufacturing services.”
 
Marc Funk, CEO, Recipharm, said, “This divestment helps us to streamline our operations in line with our strategic goals and better align with our customers’ evolving needs. I am pleased that the Cramlington site will get a committed owner with the capacity and capability to develop it to its full potential. As a top five global CDMO, we will continue to develop and invest in our highly successful contract manufacturing business.”