Skip to main content

Snapdragon finds alternative buyer in Cambrex

28th November 2022

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

CDMO Cambrex has agreed to buy Snapdragon Chemistry, a US-based provider of chemical process development services to the biopharma sector. Terms were not disclosed. This came two months after regulatory approval was denied to Asymchem Laboratories’ acquisition of Snapdragon.

Based in Waltham, Massachusetts, and employing 74, Snapdragon specialises in batch and continuous flow process development of APIs using advanced automation technology and proprietary equipment. It recently opened a second, 4,700 m2 R&D and GMP manufacturing facility to make experimental pharmaceutical products for clinical trials. This also expanded its capacity for clinical intermediates and drug substances.

Cambrex CEO Tom Loewald said that buying Snapdragon would accelerate the firm’s growth in continuous flow process development and manufacturing, complementing recent organic investments its facility in our High Point, North Carolina. The buy follows on from the recent acquisition of Q1 Scientific and is part of strategy to expand its portfolio of specialised services for pharmaceutical development and manufacturing.

Chinese CDMO Asymchem had agreed to buy Snapdragon in February 2022 for $57.94 million. The two had begun collaborating in September 2020, when Asymchem made a strategic $8.5 million investment in Snapdragon that enabled the Massachusetts Institute of Technology spin-out Snapdragon to build its new facility. Asymchem was also seeking wider opportunities from continuous flow manufacturing.

However, the deal had to be abandoned in September, because the two firms were unable to agree mitigation terms that would satisfy the US Treasury’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which has authority to block direct foreign investment in US companies on national security grounds. CFIUS has stopped a growing number of deals from going through in recent years, including many by Chinese interests.

UPL to split out specialities

Indian agrochemicals giant UPL has announced plans to transfer its speciality chemicals business, including agrochemical

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

AI for SAPs

Together with Algo Artis, Japan’s Nippon Shokubai has developed an algorithm-based means for the production

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Nippon Shokubai's API Facility in Japan

Nucleic acid API boost

Nippon Shokubai is to expand its GMP capacity for nucleic APIs tenfold It will install

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Flamma's facility in Dalian

Flamma opens in China

Italian CDMO Flamma Group has officially opened its new cGMP plant at Dalian, China, where

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

GL Chemtec has opened a new kilo lab

GL Chemtec completes kilo lab

CDMO GL Chemtec has announced the completion of a cGMP kilo lab at Oakville, Ontario

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Sterling's facility at Deeside, UK

CDMOs in ADC investments

Five CDMOs across the world have separately announced investments in antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). Piramal Pharma is

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Halozyme has dropped its approach to buy Evotec

Halozyme abandons Evotec bid

San Diego-based biopharmaceutical company Halozyme Therapeutics has withdrawn the offer it made for Evotec after

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Afyren Neoxy plant

Milestones for two greentech firms

Afyren has achieved continuous production at its Afyren Neoxy plant at Clermont-Ferrand (pictured)

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Origin by Ocean derives its materials from sargassum

CABB in algae biorefinery deal

CABB has agreed a strategic partnership to establish a first-in-kind algae biorefinery at its site at Kokkola

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

First waste-based biosurfactants

Belgian start-up AmphiStar has launched what it claims are the first fully upcycled biobased surfactants

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Aether to supply Seqens

Indian firm Aether Industries has entered into a manufacturing agreement with Chemoxy International, a UK-based

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

New model for biocatalysts

BASF, the Austrian Research Centre of Industrial Biotechnology (ACIB) and the University of Graz in

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

CBE JU funds 31 more projects

The Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU), a €2 billion partnership between the EU

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Ribbon cutting ceremony at Lubrizol's new office

Lubrizol opens London office

Lubrizol has opened a new office in Hammersmith, London. This will be home to a

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Sudarshan to buy Heubach

India’s Sudarshan Chemical Industries (SCIL) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Heubach

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Alliance in natural fragrances

Sensegen, a US-based specialist in biotech-enabled fragrances, notably a new class of natural musk raw

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Croda breaks ground in China

Croda International has broken ground for a low-carbon, multi-purpose production facility on a greenfield site

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

CCT collaboration for Givaudan

Flavours and fragrances giant Givaudan has agreed a research collaboration for the development of sustainable

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

REACH Authorisation

Candidate List ‘reaches’ 250

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has added three more substances to the Candidate List of

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington

Staff at Brenntag's newly acquired Czech site

CO2-free distribution site first

Brenntag has officially inaugurated what it claims to be the first CO2-emission-free chemical distribution site

Submitted by:

Andrew Warmington