Novacap, a worldwide player in pharmaceutical synthesis and advanced specialties, has signed an agreement to acquire Boston-based PCI Synthesis, a U.S. pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO).

Located in Boston’s booming biotech and pharmaceutical hub, PCI Synthesis offers its customers a wide range of services, including process research and early stage development as well as commercial production of new chemical entities (NCEs), generic APIs and other specialty chemical products.

The company operates a R&D facility in Devens, MA, and a manufacturing facility in Newburyport, MA, and generates a turnover of $32 million. Leveraging its wide business offering and technologies, proximity to customers, reactivity and undisputed project management skills, PCI Synthesis has achieved positive growth over the last years, most recently closing its fifth consecutive year-to-year of double-digit growth. This has been driven by more than 40 new customers and an expansion into new offerings such as GMP manufacturing for nutraceuticals and pharma foods, large-scale cryogenic manufacturing, large-scale chromatography, controlled substance development, and medical-grade polymers.

The combination of the two companies will provide PCI Synthesis with additional resources to continue its development while reinforcing Novacap’s global leadership in pharmaceutical synthesis with 12 cGMP sites, two main R&D centers and its comprehensive range of services and technologies dedicated to clinical development and commercial manufacturing.

“This acquisition validates our strategy, resources, offerings as well as our great employees and wonderful customers,” said Ed Price, founder and president, PCI Synthesis. “Since we started the company more than 20 years ago, we’ve continued to evolve and innovate, and by teaming with Novacap, we will continue to do so, now with access to Novacap’s deep technical expertise to better serve our customers.”

Pierre Luzeau, chief executive officer, Novacap, said, “The acquisition of PCI Synthesis perfectly fits with our strategic roadmap as it will strengthen our offering to the pharmaceutical industry and provide Novacap with a strong and innovative platform to accelerate our development in the U.S. We have been impressed by the outstanding achievement of PCI Synthesis over the last years and its promising pipeline of projects. The two companies operate complementary CDMO activities and share common values such as entrepreneurship, operational excellence and dedication to customer satisfaction. We look forward to working with the PCI Synthesis team.”