Research Organics adds to the firm’s buffer production and high-purity chemical capacity.

Sigma-Aldrich has acquired Research Organics to expand the company’s buffer production capacity and to increase its portfolio of pharma-grade raw materials for the biopharmaceutical and diagnostic markets. Cleveland, Ohio-based Research Organics supplies high-purity biochemicals for use in molecular biology, diagnostics, cell culture, pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals, life sciences, and biotechnology.

Founded in the 1950s, Research Organics was a pioneer in manufacturing zwitterionic biological buffers and developing the HEPES buffer as an industry-standard, according to Sigma-Aldrich. Research Organics will transition into SAFC, the custom manufacturing and services business unit of Sigma-Aldrich. The firm expects this acquisition to be neutral to earnings per share in 2012.

“Research Organics is an important addition to our pharmaceutical-grade portfolio of raw materials for the biopharmaceutical industry,” says Gilles Cottier, evp, Sigma-Aldrich, and president, SAFC. “This acquisition is an outstanding complement to our existing raw materials portfolio and will help us provide more innovative solutions for some of our customers’ toughest supply challenges. It will also enable us to provide SAFC’s customers with true dual sourcing of buffers from two of the world’s leading manufacturing sites.”

Sigma-Aldrich’s last company purchase came in January when it paid $350 million for BioReliance, a provider of global biopharmaceutical contract testing services. Last year the company made two prominent takeovers. In January 2011, it acquired Cerilliant to strengthen its analytical chemistry product portfolio. Cerilliant supplies reference standards and materials, products that support the clinical diagnostics, clinical toxicology, environmental, forensic, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical markets. A month later, Sigma-Aldrich picked up Resource Technology (RTC) also for its analytical chemistry offerings. RTC adds expertise in design, development, characterization, and packaging of analytical standards, matrix standards, certified reference materials, and proficiency testing.

Previous articleIllumina Shuns Roche’s Improved Acquisition Offer of $6.5B
Next articleAstraZeneca Forges Pact Around Five Amgen Clinical-Stage Anti-Inflammatory mAbs