GL Chemtec garners investment to meet demand for chemistry services

GL Chemtec of Oakville, ON, has announced it is partnering with Edgewater Capital Partners, a private equity firm. A specialist in advanced chemistry R&D and scale-up services to support Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) development, and the development of advanced materials for drug delivery, medical devices, and other life science applications, GL Chemtec plans to grow as a leading North American chemistry-based contract research organization (CRO).

Gamil Alhakimi, president and co-founder of GLC commented, “We are excited to be partnering with Edgewater to accelerate the growth in our API and advanced materials capabilities where we have seen significant added demand over the past couple of years.

“The expertise that Edgewater brings is not only financial, but operational and commercial expertise in the Pharma Services sector that will help us achieve our vision.”

Lisa Studnicki Hunt, COO and co-founder of GLC added, “We are very proud to announce this partnership with Edgewater. We feel that this is a very important move in order to best accommodate the needs of our customers who are looking to onshore long-term R&D and manufacturing collaborations.

“We believe that now, more than ever, it is time to step up and secure the North American development and supply of advanced chemical intermediates, APIs, and new materials.”

Operating from two facilities in Oakville, GLC houses an innovation centre where it provides R&D services supporting advanced multi-step organic synthesis of next-generation therapies, and a new facility housing a scale-up lab, two pilot plant suites, material science laboratory, including cleanrooms for advanced material development.

Brian Scanlan, Operating Partner at Edgewater Capital added, “As a chemistry-based CRO, GLC brings a unique mix of advanced multi-step organic synthesis expertise to support API development, combined with deep expertise in advanced materials including polymer science, hydrogels, and nano emulsions which are all next-generation technologies for drug delivery and devices. The company is highly differentiated and relevant in the North American pharma services space. We are delighted to be partnering with Gamil and Lisa.”