CDMO CordenPharma has announced it has agreed to acquire the US peptide CDMO AmbioPharm, along with its facilities in North Augusta, South Carolina (US) and Shanghai (China).
With this acquisition, CordenPharma expands its peptide API development capacity, gaining differentiated peptide manufacturing capabilities to complement its existing Peptides Platform and expertise.
The firm said in its statement that, once combined, these will include advanced linear and fragment-based peptide approaches supported by flexible Solid-Phase Peptide Synthesis (SPPS), Liquid-Phase Peptide Synthesis (LPPS) and hybrid synthesis, as well as CordenPharma's Tag-Assisted Peptide Synthesis (TAPS).
Following the closing of the acquisition, the firm said that customers will have flexible options to match their specific manufacturing requirements for complex, long and high-purity peptide APIs.
The transaction will also expand CordenPharma’s upstream and downstream peptide manufacturing footprint.
The North Augusta, SC site will become CordenPharma’s second US peptide facility, significantly increasing purification and lyophilisation capacity for peptide APIs.
It complements the company's existing operations in Colorado, allowing CordenPharma to offer a fully US-based supply of peptide APIs for large-scale commercial projects.
In Shanghai, CordenPharma will use AmbioPharm’s new state-of-the-art facility to support global clinical and commercial supply, with significant capabilities in solid-phase, liquid-phase and hybrid peptide synthesis.
This will provide customers with comprehensive peptide development and manufacturing support across three continents. 
Since being acquired by Astorg in 2022, the company has strategically invested in and increased its manufacturing capacity.
As part of this deal, AmbioPharm's shareholders will reinvest in the combined business, reflecting their confidence in its growth potential.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and financial terms are undisclosed.
Dr Michael Quirmbach, President & CEO of CordenPharma Group, said: "This acquisition significantly bolsters CordenPharma's Peptides Platform with complementary capabilities and advances our strategic objective to serve as a leading peptide manufacturing partner."
As peptide programmes become more complex and advanced, customers value CDMO partners who can offer both upstream scientific route selection and process robustness with downstream manufacturing scale and built-in geographic flexibility.
"AmbioPharm’s capabilities perfectly complement our existing peptide expertise, helping us to broaden the ways we support customers from development to commercialisation."
“Becoming part of CordenPharma marks an exciting new chapter for AmbioPharm," added AmbioPharm CEO Brian Gregg.
Together, we will be able to offer customers broader technical capabilities, increased global capacity and a highly reliable Peptides Platform to support the development and commercialisation of peptide-based medicines, delivered through a fully-integrated global facility network.
"Importantly, we remain focused on the patients who rely on these medicines."