Avista Pharma: Solid Form Solutions purchase complements service offering, scales footprint

Avista Pharma Solutions, Inc. has acquired Solid Form Solutions, Ltd. to provide customers with a broader suite of services as a single company, says CEO.

Avista Pharma Solutions is a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) headquartered in Durham, NC. The company also has locations in Colorado and Massachusetts, in addition to Edinburg, Scotland, where Solid Form Solutions is based.

Solid Form Solutions provides solid state chemistry and crystallization development services.

While we are both contract service companies, the service offerings of Solid Form Solutions and Avista Pharma are complementary in terms of where they fall in the drug development process,” Avista Pharma CEO Patrick Walsh told Outsourcing-Pharma.com.

By operating as one company, we will provide our customers seamless access to a broader suite of services while saving them the time and expense associated with tech transfer to a third party provider,” he said. 

Additionally, the acquisition expands Avista Pharma’s European footprint in terms of customers and operations.

Walsh explained Solid Form Solutions will maintain its existing brand identity, operating as an Avista Pharma company, and no changes are planned for the Edinburgh operation.

We expect significant growth at all locations of the combined company during the next 12 months, including the addition of new employees,” he added, noting that expansions are planned in Durham, NC and Agawam, MA in 2018.

Avista Pharma has invested approximately $25m on facility expansions since 2015. Last year, the company announced the expansion of its Durham, NC-based analytical research and development operations as well as its API and drug product manufacturing capacity in Longmont, CO, and microbiology and sterility testing capabilities in Agawam, MA.