Press Articles & Comment

Pharmaceutics International Inc acquires Pharmaterials Ltd

Corporate UK, March 2008

Pharmaceutics International, Inc. (PII) has acquired Pharmaterials Ltd, an internationally renowned preformulation and formulation development company. This acquisition will extend the business development initiatives and increase the value of the service offerings of PII.

PII is a contract formulation development, Clinical Trial Materials (CTM) and commercial manufacturing company based in Hunt Valley, Maryland USA. Founded in 1994, PII can manufacture most solid and semi-solid dosage forms for use in clinical trials and commercial sale.

Pharmaterials Ltd is a technology driven contract research organisation specialising in the optimisation of drug substance physical forms and formulations to facilitate the development of low solubility and poorly permeable drug substances. With partnerships that span the globe, Pharmaterials works with a range of organizations including start-up, mid-size and multinational companies. Founded in January 2000 by Professor Graham Buckton, the company has exponentially expanded through implementation of an organic business model.

Steve King, senior vice president of PII stated, “PII offers a wide range of cGMP (current Good Manufacturing Practices) production and formulation development services which have been expanded through alliances in drug delivery ventures. This acquisition of Pharmaterials will enable PII to provide a complete service for our customer base.”

Professor Graham Buckton, chief executive and founder of Pharmaterials said, “PII is a company that provides an excellent service to their wide client base. They have a state of the art facility with a staff of over 300 providing formulation and manufacturing services. The success that they have enjoyed is based on providing value to their customers, which is the same philosophy as Pharmaterials. In addition, they can provide new options in cGMP transfer to enhance services at Pharmaterials.”

Lucy Vernall, head of the Kemp Little corporate team, and assistants Sam Kessler and Julia Tarvin, advised PII, working alongside PII’s US counsel Jim Jacobs of Jacobs & Dembert, P.A. Lucy Vernall said: “We were delighted to be working with Jim and PII on PII’s first UK acquisition and we look forward to working with PII and Pharmaterials going forward.”
Kevin Byrne of CompleteLegal provided legal advice to Professor Graham Buckton, the founder of Pharmaterials.