Gianfranco Ferrari, chairman and president of Fabbrica Italiana Sintetici S.p.A. (FIS) died on on March 9 at the age of 84. With his father and two brothers, Mr. Ferrari founded what has become the largest cGMP manufacturer in Italy in 1957 and created a solid portfolio of generic APIs. FIS focused on contract manufacturing services and has grown into one of the larger players in Europe, maintaining its API portfolio. The privately held company posted 2007 sales of near $180 million and has approximately 600 employees working at two sites in Italy.