KD Pharma buys RohnerChem site

German CDMO KD Pharma, which is one of the world’s largest producers of omega-3 fatty acids has acquired the assets of former CDMO RohnerChem at Pratteln, near Basel, Switzerland (pictured), and hired some of the former team. Terms were not disclosed.

KD said that it aims to become an even bigger player and that the site’s “unique chemical processes and technological capabilities” enabled it “to manufacture difficult, multi-step pharmaceutical intermediates and APIs. This is a natural fit with our strategy.”

Originally known as Rohner and dating back to 1806, RohnerChem became part of Dynamic Synthesis but came close to closure after Groupe Novasep acquired the firm and was only saved when German private equity firm, Arques Industries, acquired it and relaunched it in 2016.

On 24 June 2019, RohnerChem announced that it would be ceasing operations. This followed a shutdown enforced by local authorities that February because of recurrent environmental issues at the site. Although the order books were full at the time, the closure led to order cancellations and an 80% fall in production levels, leading to unsustainable cashflow problems.