U.K. Gov’T Awards AMRI A Development And Manufacture Contract

Albany Molecular Research (AMRI) reported that its Holywell, Wales-based wholly owned subsidiary AMRI U.K., has been awarded a seven-year contract for the development and manufacture of an undisclosed active ingredient under clinical evaluation. The contract was awarded by the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory, acting on behalf of the U.K.'s Secretary of State for Defence, the Department of National Defence of Canada, and Minister of Defence of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

AMRI will initially work on the development and scale-up of the investigational drug, and subsequently the manufacture and supply for use during Phase I trials. If the trials are successful, AMRI feels it will be in a strong position to become the commercial manufacturer of the product for distribution to the government partners of this contract including the United Kingdom, Netherlands, and Canada.

This collaboration emphasizes AMRI's initiatives to provide SMARTSOURCING™ solutions to government agencies working to solve critical health issues. AMRI has been a subcontractor in the manufacturing arena for the U.S. Department of Defense for more than a decade, according to the company. AMRI's president and CEO, Thomas E. D'Ambra, Ph.D., said, "Government contracts and related collaborations outside of our typical outsourcing contracts with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies are part of our strategy to diversify our revenue base while making our high-quality services available to all industries, sectors and organizations that can benefit from our strengths in discovery, development and manufacturing."

In August 2011, AMRI received a five-year federal contract award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) / National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) with funding of up to $43 million to provide chemistry and other drug discovery technologies in support of NINDS' Medicinal Chemistry for Neurotherapeutics Program, part of the NIH Blueprint Neurotherapeutics Network.

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