Kalexsyn to sell to division of Italian pharmaceutical firm

Kalexsyn to sell to division of Italian pharmaceutical firm

KALAMAZOO — Contract research organization Kalexsyn Inc., formed in Kalamazoo after the Pfizer Inc. downsizing more than a decade ago, plans to sell to Dipharma Francis S.r.l, a European manufacturer of active pharmaceutical ingredients.

Kalexsyn’s shareholders signed a definitive agreement with the Italy-based Dipharma’s America subsidiary, Dipharma Inc., which will acquire 100 percent of the company.

The deal is expected to close within a month.

Kalexsyn will maintain operations at existing locations in Kalamazoo. Founders David Zimmermann and Robert Gadwood will continue to lead the company under its new ownership.

“We are delighted to be able to partner with Dipharma, which is known for its excellence in the synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients,” Gadwood, Kalexsyn’s president and chief scientific officer, said in a statement. “Together, we will create a new organization that will cover the pharmaceutical chemistry services spectrum from discovery to marketed drugs. We are very excited at the prospect of being a part of a larger organization with greatly enhanced capabilities. We look forward to better serving our current and new customers by providing more services and by contributing even more significantly to their drug discovery and development processes.”

Gadwood and Zimmermann formed Kalexsyn in 2003. The company primarily provides chemistry services to support drug discovery by clients.

Dipharma plans to invest in Kalexsyn’s Kalamazoo facilities for capabilities supporting Phase 1 and early Phase 2 drug development. Design has already started for an anticipated groundbreaking later in 2018. The companies expect the new operations to become fully operational by late 2019.

Kalexsyn currently provides non-GMP (good manufacturing practices) process development. The new capabilities will give Kalexsyn “a seamless array of integrated services from discovery research through commercialization,” according to an announcement of the deal.

“This is an exciting time for Kalexsyn to be joining with Dipharma’s strong chemistry team to build a vertically integrated business model,” said Zimmermann, Kalexsyn’s CEO. “We found Dipharma’s straight-forward business philosophy to be aligned with ours in providing excellence in science from early discovery to commercialization.”