MercachemSyncom, a mid-sized European drug-discovery contract research organization (CRO), has acquired Alcami’s European cGMP CMC drug substance development site, based in Weert, the Netherlands. The acquisition will allow MercachemSyncom to support larger scale clinical active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) requirements, alongside current capabilities in Prague, as well as bringing state-of-the-art solid-state research capabilities. The long experience of the Weert team in designing and driving early clinical drug substance development programs will complement extensive process research capabilities based in Groningen and Nijmegen. Financial terms were not disclosed.
 
“Since the merger of Mercachem and Syncom in 2017, our activities in early drug substance development have grown significantly,” said Frank Leemhuis, managing director, MercachemSyncom. “However, it is a real challenge to find experienced development chemists—both analytical and synthetic. With the addition of the Alcami Weert team, we have the perfect technical and cultural match. With modern, flexible plant capacity, we look forward to supporting many more clinical development programs for our customers.”
 
The Weert facility, originally founded in 1999 as Chemshop B.V., has steadily developed into a state-of-the-art contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), with a highly skilled workforce focused on applying appropriate development to transition laboratory-scale chemistry to cGMP clinical drug substance production in an integrated, risk-managed fashion. The site employs reactors with capacities from 10L to 1000L and has delivered hundreds of clinical compounds since its inception. A recent addition includes a world-class high-throughput X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) workflow to expand impressive physicochemical research capabilities, such as polymorph screening and salt selection studies, combined with crystallization process development on scale.
 
Eelco Ebbers, chief executive officer, MercachemSyncom, said, “This acquisition, in combination with our existing activities in drug discovery, gives us the opportunity to expand our portfolio of chemistry services from compound design to clinical proof of concept and beyond, all located within the European Union. We are extremely happy to acquire these operations, particularly as they come with such an experienced team. This is our second acquisition in the cGMP space, following our Prague site, and we already have a very healthy pipeline of opportunities from our existing loyal client base. We are excited about the additional capacity and capability we will be able to offer, particularly to our U.S. clients, where our business is growing rapidly. The Weert site has a proven track record and state-of-the-art facilities with a clean inspection history, including a recent FDA inspection.”