Avecia buys chiral technology from Synthon Chiragenics
Avecia has significantly extended its position in chiral technologies through the acquisition of the pharmaceutical fine chemicals business of US company Synthon Chiragenics.
Avecia has significantly extended its position in chiral technologies through the acquisition of the pharmaceutical fine chemicals business of US company Synthon Chiragenics.
Under the deal, terms of which were not disclosed, Synthon retains rights to the technology for applications in drug discovery and development, including synthesis of intermediates and APIs, up to and including preclinical development.
Avecia will gain new global business opportunities ranging from preclinical to launched compounds and from chiral building blocks to downstream synthesis of APIs. Customers include major, emerging and start-up pharma companies in North America, Europe and Japan.
The portfolio purchased by Avecia includes some 150 intermediates and complex chiral compounds, and gives Avecia access to a new range of C-3, C-4 and C-5 chiral entities, including the key building block (S)-3-Hydroxy-gamma-butyrolactone (HGB). The range of chiral building blocks is based on intellectual property developed at Michigan State University, with which Avecia intends to continue strategic development work.
According to Dr David Moody, Avecia's director of new technology ventures, the HGB technology acquired from Synthon is as close as possible to the ideal chiral building block, in that it is low-cost, flexible, easy to produce, is essentially homochiral and has good synergy with the rest of Avecia's chiral toolkit. 'HGB technology, either stand-alone or in combination with other Avecia technologies, significantly enhances our ability to deliver cost-effective manufacturing solutions for the widest range of chiral compounds,' he stated.
'This is another key step in our pharma business strategy to deliver benefits in both time and cost along the whole drug development pipeline - from preclinical to launch,' said Dr Peter Jackson, Avecia vice president - pharmaceutical products. 'In chirals this demands a broad portfolio of technologies and combinations that are robust, scaleable and capable of meeting new challenges in the development and production of ever more complex drug structures.'