CordenPharma, a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), has entered into definite agreements to acquire the former Hospira Boulder (Colorado) high containment API site from Pfizer, Inc. The closing of the transaction is anticipated to occur in November 2017.

Located in proximity to the existing CordenPharma Colorado facility, Hospira Boulder produces active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and intermediate products with specialized capabilities in small to medium scale highly potent and cytotoxic API manufacturing. Previously owned by Pfizer/Hospira, the 54,000 square foot facility with more than 100 employees has API production capabilities ranging from very small scale up to 3,000 liters.

CordenPharma will also enter into a multi-year supply arrangement with Pfizer, with the expectation that the agreement will help defray costs associated with running the site for the next few years while it adds new client work into the facility.

CordenPharma represents the global pharmaceutical manufacturing and service platform of International Chemical Investors Group (ICIG). “The acquisition will augment CordenPharma’s highly potent and oncology platform and integrated supply service offering in association with its drug product manufacturing expertise in the area of solid dosage and sterile injectables in CordenPharma Plankstadt (DE) and CordenPharma Latina (IT) respectively,” said Achim Riemann, managing director, ICIG.

The company said this acquisition represents a further key milestone in CordenPharma’s targeted acquisition strategy implemented over the last several years. As part of this strategy, CordenPharma continuously acquired API and drug product manufacturing capabilities over the last decade, including peptide and small molecules API plants as well as highly potent drug product sites in Italy, Germany and Belgium.

In addition, CordenPharma Colorado completed the construction of a new API process bay in 2016, equipped to handle highly potent compounds up to OEB Level 4, to accommodate increasing customer demand in this segment. “With this new acquisition, CordenPharma is uniquely positioned to provide pharma customers with the most comprehensive highly potent and oncology service in the industry, spanning the entire API and drug product supply chain at any stage from development to commercialization,” said Michael Quirmbach, vice president, global marketing and sales, CordenPharma International.

Hospira Boulder, to be renamed CordenPharma Boulder, will be managed by Brian McCudden, the current chief executive officer of CordenPharma Colorado who was responsible for Hospira Boulder during one of his previous assignments as an employee of Hospira.