AMRI completes acquisition of manufacturing facilities in India

US-based Albany Molecular Research, Inc. (AMRI) has completed its acquisition of two pharmaceutical manufacturing sites, along with additional land for expansion, in Aurangabad and Navi Mumbai, India for approximately US$11m in cash.

In May AMRI signed a definitive agreement to acquire from the Runwal Group the assets of Ariane Orgachem in Aurangabad and Ferico Laboratories in Navi Mumbai. The existing facilities currently manufacture a range of pharmaceutical intermediates and bulk active ingredients, including treatments for diabetes, heart disease and asthma.

AMRI has also obtained additional land in Aurangabad and plans to invest approximately $15m to expand and upgrade manufacturing capabilities over the next three years. Investments will include upgrades to existing environmental and safety systems and procedures, improvements to waste water treatment facilities, and other enhancements to ensure the preservation of local environmental resources.

'These assets contribute to the globalisation of our contract services platform from laboratory scale to manufacturing,' said AMRI chairman, president and ceo Dr Thomas E. D'Ambra. 'Longer term, we anticipate expanding the line of generic APIs prepared in India that we can market throughout the world, providing additional synergies with our existing development laboratories in Hyderabad.'

Concurrently, Dr Prasad S. Raje, has assumed leadership responsibility for AMRI's manufacturing business in India, and has transferred from Syracuse, New York, to company offices in Mumbai. He will report to Jonathan Evans, AMRI vice president for pharmaceutical development and manufacturing. Prior to joining AMRI, Dr Raje was a senior research scientist at Abbott Laboratories, near Chicago.