The acquisition expands AMRI’s Europe-based customer base and also gives it manufacturing capacity in the region. AMRI’s penetration into Europe has been restricted by some companies’ reluctance to work with a long distance provider and the acquisition should alleviate this.
Furthermore, AMRI believes there is little overlap between its client portfolio and Excelsyn’s. The Wales-based company has clients around the world but AMRI highlighted the potential to work with Europe-based large pharma companies.
Thomas D'Ambra, chairman and CEO at AMRI, added: “We believe this acquisition will increase our ability to penetrate a market space relatively untapped to date, including customers in large pharma based in Europe.”
Following completion of the deal AMRI will be able to offer these companies preclinical through to Phase III product development and commercial scale manufacturing in their home region. The 14-acre site has kilo lab, pilot plant and large scale manufacturing capabilities.
These operations run 24/7 and are focused on providing rapid response services to clients. To achieve this Excelsyn has adopted a model for accelerated product changeovers at the plant.
David Rowles, currently chief operating officer at Excelsyn, will manage the site in Wales. Ian Shott, CEO of Excelsyn, will act as a consultant for the UK site and will also work to build relationships with potential Europe-based customers.
Cost savings
The other factor motivating the acquisition is the desire to offer lower cost services. AMRI believes acquiring Excelsyn gives it a significant cost competitive option for conducting development and manufacturing, particularly in the production of chemical intermediates.
D'Ambra explained that the purchase improves AMRI’s “ability to offer lower cost solutions at a time when cost has been become a major factor in outsourcing decisions being made, particularly in the large pharmaceutical sector”.