SK Capital Partners has announced that it, Eurazeo and other shareholders in Seqens have entered a formal agreement for it to acquire Seqens. This follows a period of exclusive negotiations and the agreement of the employee representative body. This remains subject to regulatory approval. S

As “part of its strategy to meet the evolution of customer needs in fine chemicals and services”, the Minafin Group has reorganised itself into three divisions, each with its own CEO, with effect from 1 October. They are:

* Health Chemistry, comprising the pharmaceutical activities of Minakem CDMO, Minakem Generics and HPAPIs, led by a CEO who is as yet unannounced

* Green Chemistry, comprising the mainly non-pharma activities of Pennakem, Minasolve, Minagro and EcoXtract, under Gust Desmedt

Aceto has acquired A&C Bio Buffer, a GMP manufacturer of custom buffer and chemical blends for the manufacture of biopharmaceutical drug products. This follows the acquisition earlier this year of A&C, a US manufacturer of GMP speciality excipients and custom process systems that had owned the Irish facility until then.

Vertellus has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the potassium chloride, caustic pellets and vaccine adjuvant businesses of diversified US chemical firm Chemtrade. Terms were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close during Q4, subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions.

PharmaZell, a German-based producer of speciality APIs, and France’s CDMO Groupe Novasep are to merge under the ownership of PharmaZell’s current majority shareholder, private equity firm Bridgepoint. This remains subject to consultation with employees and other closing conditions.

Inotiv, a US CRO specialising in nonclinical and analytical drug discovery and development services, has reached an agreement to acquire research models and services Envigo. The cash and shares deal gives UK-headquartered Envigo an enterprise value of about $545 million, and the combined company one of around $1.2 billion.

CEM and AmbioPharm, two firms based in the Carolinas, have formed a partnership for the production of GMP peptides for the pharmaceutical industry. Under this, AmbioPharm will have exclusive rights to use CEM’s large-scale microwave technology for solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) at up to multi-kilogram quantities using proprietary scalable reactors.