Albany Molecular To Acquire ComGenex

Albany Molecular Research Inc. (AMRI), a provider of chemistry services to the pharmaceutical industry, has agreed to acquire ComGenex, a privately held drug discovery services company based in Budapest, Hungary.

ComGenex was founded in 1992 and had contract revenue of about $8.5 million last year. It employs 119 people, including 88 scientific and technical staff.

According to AMRI, ComGenex combines parallel synthesis with computational chemistry to create libraries of small molecules with druglike characteristics. It also has developed novel technologies in chemical genomics and target identification.

AMRI is the largest U.S.-based provider of chemistry services to the drug industry. It recently opened laboratories in Singapore and India in an effort to compete against lower cost service providers that are based outside the U.S.

AMRI Chief Executive Officer Thomas E. D'Ambra says the ComGenex purchase will create "an immediate presence in Europe in a [European Union] member state with a significantly lower cost structure than Western European countries." He adds that the deal will also provide access to drug and biotechnology companies in England and the European continent that have not been a major revenue source until now.

Separately, AMRI has acknowledged a court decision denying its request for a preliminary injunction in a patent infringement case related to the allergy drug Allegra (C&EN, Sept. 12, 2005, page 14). AMRI, which holds the patent on fexofenadine, the active ingredient in Allegra, had sought to block Barr Laboratories and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries from launching a generic version of Allegra while patent infringement actions are pending.