Ardena continues M&A strategy with CMO buy

14-May-2018 - Last updated on 14-May-2018 at 16:45 GMT

(Image: Getty/mikdam)

CDMO Ardena has added drug product capabilities with the purchase of active pharmaceutical ingredient and excipient-focused Syntagon.

The acquisition enables the contract manufacturing and development organisation (CDMO) to handle larger batch sizes up to 100kg, adding a manufacturing facility in Södertälje, Sweden, and development and quality control (QC) laboratory in Riga, Latvia, to its site network.

Syntagon’s 30 employees and client portfolio will also be transferred to Ardena.

According to Ardena CEO Harry Christiaens, the firm’s Syntagon acquisition is in line with the its M&A strategy.

Ardena – which launched in September 2017 – is the product of a merger between Belgium-based Pharmavize, Dutch firm Crystallics, and Analytical Biochemical Laboratory (ABL) in The Netherlands.

And in March this year, the CDMO bought Dutch active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) maker ChemConnection.

Ardena is focused on building a “complementary service portfolio that spans the clinical supply chain from molecule to clinic,” Christiaens told us.

Services include chemical-pharmaceutical development and manufacturing services, analytical and bioanalytical support, and regulatory dossier development support, he added.

The acquisition marks the CDMO’s first outside of the Benelux region.

In Scandinavia, Ardena will be “well positioned to capitalise on the emerging biotech segment and broader pharmaceutical market,” the CEO said in a statement.