Cambrex to Acquire Avista Pharma

On Nov. 20, 2018, Cambrex, a provider of generic APIs, small molecule, and finished dosage form products and services, announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Avista Pharma Solutions, a contract development, manufacturing, and testing organization, for approximately $252 million.  

Cambrex will acquire Avista for approximately $252 million in total cash consideration. The acquisition is expected to be funded with a combination of cash on hand and borrowings under Cambrex’s existing revolving credit facility. Completion of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to occur during the fourth quarter of 2018.

With this acquisition, Cambrex will enter the market for early stage small-molecule development and testing services. Avista offers a suite of scientifically differentiated services, ranging from API and drug product development and cGMP manufacturing to stand-alone analytical, microbiology testing, and solid-state sciences. Cambrex reports that the acquisition of Avista will strengthen Cambrex’s position as a fully integrated small-molecule contract development and manufacturing organization across the entire drug lifecycle.

“We are excited to announce our acquisition of Avista, which further rounds out our small-molecule service offering by adding a full complement of early stage development capabilities for both API and finished dosage form as well as comprehensive analytical testing services.  The addition of Avista further underscores our commitment to providing the broadest possible range of world-class services to our global customer base,” said Steve Klosk, president and CEO of Cambrex, in a company press release. 

“Like the Halo transaction in September, this acquisition opens up an exciting new segment of the market for Cambrex and brings a large number of new customer relationships to Cambrex,” continued Klosk. “These new relationships will provide cross selling opportunities for Cambrex’s API and finished dosage form services and will significantly increase the funnel of molecules that may advance to commercial status, where Cambrex has always excelled.”

Avista operates four facilities located in Durham, NC; Longmont, CO; Agawam, MA; and Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, comprising over 200,000 ft²of space. Avista provides a combination of analytical testing, early stage process chemistry, formulation development, manufacturing, and solid-state chemistry services.  Including the microbiological testing business, Avista is expected to generate approximately $65 million in annual revenue in 2018, according to Cambrex. Avista’s 330-person workforce will join Cambrex’s 1700 employees across the United States and Europe.

Source: Cambrex