[an error occurred while processing this directive]
Skip to Main Content

Latest News

Advertisement
Advertise Here
August 8, 2011

ICIG Will Acquire Roche Peptide Plant

Pharmaceutical Chemicals: Purchase continues acquisition spree for private equity firm

Michael McCoy

ICIG
An aerial view of the Roche Colorado site in Boulder.
  • Print this article
  • Email the editor

Latest News



October 28, 2011

Speedy Homemade-Explosive Detector

Forensic Chemistry: A new method could increase the number of explosives detected by airport screeners.

Solar Panel Makers Cry Foul

Trade: U.S. companies complain of market dumping by China.

Novartis To Cut 2,000 Jobs

Layoffs follow similar moves by Amgen, AstraZeneca.

Nations Break Impasse On Waste

Environment: Ban to halt export of hazardous waste to developing world.

New Leader For Lawrence Livermore

Penrose (Parney) Albright will direct DOE national lab.

Hair Reveals Source Of People's Exposure To Mercury

Toxic Exposure: Mercury isotopes in human hair illuminate dietary and industrial sources.

Why The Long Fat?

Cancer Biochemistry: Mass spectrometry follows the metabolism of very long fatty acids in cancer cells.

Text Size A A

Continuing to snap up the drug industry's unwanted pharmaceutical chemical plants, International Chemical Investors Group (ICIG) has agreed to acquire Roche's peptide production facility in Boulder, Colo.

ICIG isn't disclosing the purchase price. The private equity firm says it will rename the site Corden Pharma Colorado and run it as part of its Corden Pharma family of companies. Under the deal, Corden Pharma Colorado will supply Roche with a number of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) currently made in Boulder.

"Selling the Boulder site to ICIG will secure a reliable supplier to meet Roche's demand for commercial-scale peptides and other medicinal compounds," says Georg Wiebecke, head of chemical manufacturing for Roche. The plant currently has a workforce of about 265 employees.

Roche put the Boulder plant up for sale last November in a restructuring move. The facility is known in the pharmaceutical chemical industry for making the active ingredient in the HIV medication Fuzeon, a 36-amino-acid molecule that is one of the few peptide drugs to be manufactured at the ton scale. Wolfgang Niedermaier, president of Corden Pharma, says his firm will build on the site's unique capabilities by attracting API production contracts from other firms.

Launched in 2004, Europe-based ICIG has made a business of acquiring unwanted facilities from large chemical and pharmaceutical companies. In February, for example, it agreed to buy Genzyme's pharmaceutical intermediates business, which includes a manufacturing facility in Liestal, Switzerland. ICIG says it has purchased a total of 16 facilities in Europe and the U.S., all of which have origins in major chemical and drug firms. Its annual sales are close to $1 billion.

Chemical & Engineering News
ISSN 0009-2347
Copyright © 2011 American Chemical Society
  • Print this article
  • Email the editor

Services & Tools

ACS Resources

ACS is the leading employment source for recruiting scientific professionals. ACS Careers and C&EN Classifieds provide employers direct access to scientific talent both in print and online. Jobseekers | Employers

» Join ACS

Join more than 161,000 professionals in the chemical sciences world-wide, as a member of the American Chemical Society.
» Join Now!