Hovione acquires sugars firm

CDMO Hovione has acquired its Portuguese compatriot ExtremoChem, a chemical synthesis start-up focused on bio-inspired synthetic sugars. Terms were not disclosed.

ExtremoChem has developed a library of synthetic analogues of natural molecules found in extremophiles. These are said to have “shown potential in overcoming challenges associated with the stabilisation of biopharmaceuticals during production, purification, formulation and transportation”.

Hovione CEO Dr Jean-Luc Herbeaux said that the combination of ExtremoChem’s sugars with its particle engineering capabilities “provides our customers with a unique set of tools” to optimise biopharmaceutical formulations with stability. Biopharmaceuticals account for a large part of Hovione’s customers’ pipelines.