Press Releases

KEMP LITTLE ADVISES PII ON UK ACQUISITION

January 2008

Kemp Little LLP, the leading UK technology law firm, advised Pharmaceutics International, Inc. (“PII”) on its acquisition of Pharmaterials Limited, an internationally renowned drug preformulation and formulation development company based in Reading. The acquisition, which completed on 2nd January 2008, will extend the business development initiatives and increase the value of the service offerings of PII.

Steve King, senior VP 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 seen 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 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.”

Steve King of PII said, "This is the first major transaction we have worked on with Kemp Little and we were highly impressed with Kemp Little’s sector expertise, responsive commercial advice and enthusiasm to close the deal."

Kemp Little’s lawyers have considerable experience in advising the bioscience and healthcare sectors in corporate transactions as well on IP and commercial issues.

Kevin Byrne of CompleteLegal acted for Professor Buckton.

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About Kemp Little LLP:

Kemp Little is recognised as the UK’s leading technology-focused law firm. The practice specialises in technology sectors and the sectors that technology transforms.

The firm acts for leading organisations across the range of technology and communications industries and in sectors where technology transforms how business operates like financial services, media, travel, retail, professional services and the public sector. Our clients range from the largest global public companies and organisations to early stage ventures with exciting new technologies.

Kemp Little brings a genuinely innovative approach to what we do. It was the first UK law firm LLP and the first UK law firm to launch a WIP extranet letting clients see ‘what’s on the clock’ and it was recently voted one of Europe’s to 50 most innovative law firms by the Financial Times for the second year running.

For further information, please contact:

Lucy Vernall, Corporate Group Head
Tel: (020) 7710 1602, email: lucy.vernall@kemplittle.com

The firm is located at:
Cheapside House
138 Cheapside
London EC2V 6BJ
Tel: 020 7600 8080
Fax: 020 7600 7878

For further information please see the firm's website at www.kemplittle.com.

About PII:

PII (www.pharm-int.com) is a contract formulation development, Clinical Trail Materials (CTM) and commercial manufacturing company based in Hunt Valley, Maryland. Founded in 1994, PII can manufacture most solid and semi-solid dosage forms for use in clinical trials and commercial sale. These services are complemented by full analytical and regulatory support. The 170,000 square foot cGMP facility contains on-site manufacturing suites, analytical laboratories and 30,000 square feet of additional warehouse space. The company has a balanced client base of major multinational and virtual pharmaceutical companies that are primarily focused in the United States and Europe.

About Pharmaterials Ltd:

Pharmaterials Ltd (www.pharmaterials.co.uk) is a technology driven contract research organization specializing in the optimization 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. Pharmaterials is housed in state-of-the-art laboratories and offices in Reading, UK and has offices in Tokyo to support their increasing Japanese client base.