AMRI to acquire Euticals

Albany Molecular Research Inc. (AMRI) will acquire Euticals, a Lodi, Italy-based manufacturer of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), for $358 million. The deal will significantly expand AMRI’s API capacity as well as its presence in Europe.

A pioneer in combining research service and manufacturing, AMRI operates at more than a dozen facilities around the world, with its primary large-scale manufacturing plant located in Rensselaer, N.Y. In Europe, the company currently runs a formulation development and drug product manufacturing plant in Glasgow, Scotland. AMRI closed a development services and API manufacturing plant in Holywell, Wales, last year.

The Euticals acquisition will bring large-scale manufacturing plants in Italy, France, Germany, and the U.S., covering a range of specialized technologies. “The acquisition of Euticals will provide us an established custom synthesis presence in Europe and will further build on our expertise in complex APIs,” says William S. Marth, AMRI’s chief executive officer.

AMRI, which reported revenues of $402 million in 2015, says it will gain 400 customers and a diverse portfolio of generic APIs in the deal while expanding its capabilities in sterile API manufacturing, steroids, fermentation, and controlled substances. Euticals had $245 million of revenue for 2015.

Industry analyst James Bruno of Chemical & Pharmaceutical Solutions emphasizes that the deal adds volume rather than new manufacturing technology, but he notes that the additional capacity may be necessary given AMRI’s growth in research services. “Eventually that stuff has to get to production, and they were losing it,” he says.

Noting that Euticals has struggled in the competitive European market in recent years, Bruno adds that AMRI’s pipeline may revitalize the Italian firm’s operation. “There will be new management, and hopefully AMRI has a pipeline that they can feed to Euticals,” he says. Bruno adds that work from AMRI’s pipeline may move into production at Euticals’ facilities more quickly than work from new customers.