ABL acquisition extends Ardena’s early-phase offering

- Sep 21, 2017 - Early-phase contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO), Ardena, has acquired bioanalytical contract laboratory, Analytical Biochemical Laboratory (ABL).

The acquisition of Netherlands-based ABL follows the merging of Pharmavize and Crystallics to form Ardena and broadens the CDMOs pre-clinical and clinical offering to include bioanalytical and drug discovery services.

With the addition of ABL, the Ardena Group now employs 125 scientists.

Commenting on the announcement, Harry Christiaens CEO of Ardena, said: Our focus is to help customers navigate the hurdles of drug development and in order to do this effectively, we need to deliver a broad and integrated service offering spanning drug discovery, pre-clinical, CMC and clinical services.

With ABLs expertise, we can now support sponsors with bioanalytical and drug discovery services to help them reach important pre-clinical and clinical milestones. These specialist capabilities complement our existing services, which include solid-state chemistry, analytical and formulation development, and early-phase clinical supply manufacturing.

This is a very exciting time for everyone at Ardena as we combine our specialist capabilities and knowledge, enabling us to develop smart, and regulatory-compliant formulations for drug development companies of all sizes, added Harry.

The acquisition of ABL means Ardena now has three facilities in Europe, including Amsterdam (the former Crystallics facility) and Assen (the former ABL facility) in the Netherlands, as well as the companys headquarters in Ghent, Belgium.

Harry continued: The acquisition of ABL was a strategic decision to further our goal to become a one-source contract partner for early-phase development. We expect to continue this buy & build strategy in the coming months and years.

Founded in 1969, ABL specialises in the analysis of endogenous (biomarkers) and exogenous compounds (drugs) in biological matrices derived from humans and animals. The company is active in all phases of drug development, including discovery, pre-clinical and clinical phases I - IV.

Ep Oosting, Managing Director of ABL added: ABL has grown significantly since I first joined the company more than 25 years ago, and its exciting to be part of the next stage in its evolution. Were looking forward to combining our expertise with that of the Ardena team to be able to offer our customers a more diverse and complete range of pre-clinical and early-phase drug development services. Moreover, we will continue offering and even expand our standalone bioanalytical services for the pharmaceutical industry to assist customers that require a more specific service.

Ardena will be exhibiting for the first time at CPhI Worldwide in Frankfurt, 24 - 26 October 2017. Visit stand 40B12 to find out more.

-ENDS-

For further information, images and interview opportunities with Ardena, please contact Lindsay Baldry at ramarketing | lindsay@ramarketingpr.com | +44 (0)191 222 1242| www.ramarketingpr.com | www.twitter.com/ramarketingpr

Picture caption: ABL acquisition adds bio-analytical capabilities to Ardena

For more information, please visit http://ardena.com/