Ropes & Gray Advises Cambrex in Proposed Acquisition of PharmaCore

Ropes & Gray represented Cambrex Corporation, a leading manufacturer of small molecule innovator and generic active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), in its proposed acquisition of PharmaCore, Inc. for approximately $25 million.

Cambrex (NYSE: CBM), based in East Rutherford, N.J., is an innovative life sciences company that provides products, services and technologies to accelerate the development and commercialization of small molecule therapeutics. Cambrex offers APIs, advanced intermediates and enhanced drug delivery products for branded and generic pharmaceuticals. Development and manufacturing capabilities include enzymatic biotransformations, high potency APIs, high energy chemical synthesis, controlled substances and formulation of finished dosage form products.

Headquartered in High Point, N.C., PharmaCore is a privately owned company specializing in developing, manufacturing and scaling up small molecule APIs for clinical phase projects. PharmaCore develops and produces complex APIs and intermediates requiring multistep synthetic processes in batch sizes from milligrams to 100 kg to support clinical trials from Phase I to Phase III. The company is licensed with the US Drug Enforcement Administration to manufacture Schedule II to Schedule V controlled substances.

The deal was announced Sept. 26 and is expected to be completed within 30 days, subject to customary closing conditions.

The Ropes & Gray team advising Cambrex included securities & public companies partner Paul Kinsella; tax partner Aaron Harsh; executive compensation & employee benefits partner Jonathan Zorn; real estate partner Jack Creedon; real estate & environmental partner Peter Alpert; life sciences partner Albert Cacozza; and securities & public companies associates Thomas Fraser.