Ajinomoto Co., Inc., Tokyo, Japan, has entered a merger agreement to acquire all of the capital stock of Althea Technologies, Inc., San Diego, CA, a leading biopharmaceutical CDMO, for approximately $175 million (approximately JPY 16 billion).

Through this acquisition, Ajinomoto said it intends to strengthen its business foundation and expand in the rapidly growing advanced biomedical field to achieve revenue of JPY 30 billion by 2020.

Biopharmaceuticals are drugs produced using biotechnology, which include proteins, peptides, and nucleic acids. Biopharmaceuticals can address unmet medical needs with high pharmacological efficacies and minimal side effects. The global market size for biopharmaceutical CDMO is estimated at $2.3 billion, and double-digit growth is expected.

Althea, founded in 1998, is a fully integrated contract development and manufacturing organization providing fill and finish, biologics manufacturing, analytical development and stability testing services for biopharmaceutical companies. Althea possesses sophisticated technology, rigorous quality control, expertise for each manufacturing process required for biopharmaceuticals and established relationships with its biopharmaceutical customer base.

Ajinomoto Co., a market leader in amino acids for 100 years, developed unique biotech capabilities, and has recently been promoting its own contract process development business for biopharmaceuticals (Corynex). Ajinomoto Co. aims to expand the business for biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing in the markets of North America, as well as Asia and Japan and strengthen the Ajinomoto Group's advanced biomedical business by combining its unique biotechnology with Althea's sophisticated technology, experienced personnel and expertise in cGMP manufacturing and development.

Closing is expected to occur in April 2013 at which point Althea will become a fully consolidated subsidiary of Ajinomoto Co. The transaction will not affect Ajinomoto's financial performance in fiscal year 2012.