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History

Since our founding in 1981, Cambrex has transformed from a fine chemical manufacturer to a leading CDMO with a singular focus on helping our customers advance life-improving therapies to the market. With over 40 years’ experience and a growing team of more than 2,000 experts serving global clients from our sites in North America and Europe, we are a trusted partner in branded and generic markets for API and finished dosage form development and manufacturing.

The following history tracks our growth and investments over the last 40 years to become a leading global CDMO:

2023
  • Opened a new 20,000 sq ft cGMP stability storage facility in Belgium.
  • Completed acquisition of Snapdragon Chemistry, a leading US-based provider of chemical process development services to a broad range of emerging and established biopharma customers.
2022
  • Completed the first phase of a $30 million capacity expansion project in High Point, NC.
  • Acquired Q1 Scientific — a leading provider of environmentally controlled cGMP stability storage services for the pharmaceutical, medical device, and life science industries, located in Waterford, Ireland.
  • Completed the expansion of large-scale manufacturing capabilities in Charles City, IA.
  • Expanded the biopharmaceutical services business to include an additional 11 cGMP laboratories in Durham, NC.
2021
  • Invested $30 million to expand our manufacturing Center of Excellence in High Point, NC.
  • Introduced new kilogram-scale GMP manufacturing capabilities in Tallinn, Estonia.
  • Expanded analytical services capabilities at the Longmont, CO facility.
2020
  • Invested $50 million to expand the multipurpose large-scale manufacturing capabilities in the US.
  • Completed major expansion of solid form screening facility in Edinburgh, UK.
  • Completed biopharmaceutical expansion at Durham, NC facility.
2019
  • Acquired by an affiliate of the Permira funds.
  • Completed the acquisition of Avista Pharma Solutions, adding early-stage API and finished dosage form development and testing services to our global contract development and manufacturing network.
2018
  • Completed the acquisition of Halo Pharma, adding drug product development and manufacturing capabilities to existing API services.
  • Invested in new continuous flow technology at our High Point, NC facility.
  • Invested $5 million to expand laboratory facilities at our Karlskoga, Sweden site, to augment capability and capacity for process development and scale-up, handling of potent substances, crystallization studies, and solid phase characterization.
2017
  • Invested in new small-scale capacity at our Charles City, IA facility with the installation of two 500-gallon glass-lined reactors and created a third small-scale work center, further increasing flexibility for customer projects.
  • Expanded our High Point, NC facility with the addition of a $3.2 million, 11,000 sq. ft. analytical laboratory, in response to growing customer demand for analytical development and validation services in support of cGMP products at the clinical stage.
  • Invested $24 million in a new facility to manufacture highly potent APIs (HPAPIs) at our Charles City, IA plant.
  • Invested in new capacity and continuous flow technology at our Karlskoga, Sweden facility to produce high-purity intermediates.
2016
  • Expanded our cGMP API manufacturing and storage capabilities in Charles City, IA and increased our large-scale manufacturing capability in Karlskoga, Sweden with the installation of new multi-purpose reactors and control room upgrades.
  • Opened a new pilot plant at our site in Paullo (Milan) Italy, allowing greater speed and flexibility for small-scale API production.
  • Expanded our clinical-stage API capabilities with the acquisition of PharmaCore, Inc. in High Point, NC, a leading early-phase chemistry specialist with expertise in developing, scaling up, and manufacturing small molecule APIs for clinical phase projects.
2015
  • Completed our 45,000 sq. ft temperature- and humidity-controlled cGMP warehouse space at our Charles City, IA site.
2013
  • Completed a major 7,000 sq. ft. facility expansion at our Charles City, IA site to increase API manufacturing capabilities for both existing products and a new product.
2010
  • Acquired IEP GmbH in Wiesbaden, Germany to broaden our biocatalysis offering.
2009
  • Completed a new cGMP API production facility in Paullo, Milan, Italy.
2008
  • Expanded our group of world class R&D chemists by acquiring ProSyntest in Tallinn, Estonia.
  • Completed the addition of a high potency development center at our Charles City, IA site.
2001
  • Obtained DEA licensing for controlled substance API manufacturing.
1995
  • Expanded into the pharmaceutical market with the acquisition of the Nobel Pharma Chemistry businesses, Nobel Chemicals AB, and Profarmaco S.r.l., located in Karlskoga, Sweden and Paullo, Milan, Italy.
1991
  • Entered the life sciences arena with the acquisition of Salsbury Chemicals, a manufacturer of bulk intermediates and APIs, as well as high-level research in nitration chemistry, and Zeeland Chemicals, producer of specialty intermediates and hydrogenation chemistry.
  • Established our Charles City, IA site.
1990
  • Listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
1987
  • Changed our name to Cambrex Corporation and became listed on the NASDAQ.
1981
  • Founded as CasChem when the castor oil and derivatives product lines are acquired from NL Industries.

Evolution, Expansion, and Innovation

Cambrex didn’t start as a CDMO, but one constant throughout our history has been a strong commitment to serve our customers’ needs. Today, we form end-to-end partnerships for the research, development, and manufacture of therapeutics at every stage of the life cycle.

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