Mercachem agreed to acquire Synthon’s Prague-based laboratory and pilot-scale operations for the manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) under cGMP.
Synthon said the divestment decision is based on an initiative to concentrate all of its R&D and manufacturing activities that currently take place in the Czech Republic to one location. All activities and projects relating to Synthon’s own product portfolio carried out in Prague will be transferred to the company’s fully integrated API R&D and production site in Blansko, Czech Republic. As a result of the acquisition, all Synthon Prague employees will join Mercachem on October 1.
Mercachem said the acquisition will allow it to start carrying out scale-up and cGMP synthesis of drug substances 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.
“This acquisition, in combination with our existing activities in drug discovery, gives us the opportunity to offer a complete range of chemistry services from compound design to clinical proof of concept and beyond, all located within the European Union,” said Frank Leemhuis, managing director of Mercachem. “We are extremely happy with this opportunity to acquire these operations with an experienced team with a proven track record as well as state-of-the-art facilities with clean inspection history.”
Mercachem is a European CRO offering chemistry, medicinal chemistry, and early process research services. Synthon is a pharmaceutical company focusing on the therapeutic areas of autoimmune/neurodegenerative diseases and oncology.
