Like the EaglePicher purchase, which enriched its active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and drug substance manufacturing abilities, the addition of SSCI also aims to broaden Aptuit's drug development service offerings, giving it new capabilities in crystallisation, characterisation, and chemistry of solid materials. SSCI also brings the US-based firm a unique legal services group that has expertise in science-based patent prosecution and patent litigation.
"SSCI's strength in polymorph, salt, cocrystal, amorphous material, and analytical research has helped customers improve development outcomes and build sound intellectual property positions along the way," said Michael Griffith, CEO of Aptuit.
"By integrating their service offering with our existing analytic and active pharmaceutical ingredient development capabilities, we can offer customers a more robust and seamless offering to move product candidates toward the clinic and the marketplace."
The enlarged firm said it now also plans to bring online a new range of analytical services for protein and peptide drugs, including conventional analyses as well as X-ray powder diffraction, dynamic light scattering, characterization, stability, and formulation studies, designed to improve quality and reduce clinical trial problems for customers.
Financial terms of the deal, expected to close within 30 days, were not disclosed, however, Aptuit will gain SSCI's 100 employees and its facilities in West Lafayette, Indiana; Atlanta, Georgia and Oxford, UK.
This brings the number of Aptuit's global manufacturing facilities to 15, together with a clinical trial distribution network of 27 supply depots, accessing more than 70 countries.
