Profile: Albany Molecular Research, Inc. (AMRI.O)

Albany Molecular Research, Inc., incorporated on June 20, 1991, provides scientific services, technologies and products. The Company's core business consists of a fee-for-service contract services platform encompassing drug discovery, development and manufacturing, and a separate, stand-alone research and development division consisting of technology investments, internal drug discovery and niche generic active pharmaceutical ingredient product development. With locations in the United States, Europe and Asia, the Company provides customers with a range of services and cost models. In January 2008, the Company completed the acquisition of FineKem Laboratories Pvt. Limited (FineKem), a manufacturing facility in Aurangabad, India.

The Company’s customers include pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies and, to a limited extent, agricultural companies, fine chemical companies, contract chemical manufacturers, government research entities and non-profit organizations. During the year ended December 31, 2008, contract revenue from the three largest customers represented 19%, 5% and 5%, respectively, of contract revenue. The largest customer, General Electric, represented 17% of total contract revenue for the year ended December 31, 2008.

Drug Discovery Services

The Company provides a spectrum of Drug Discovery Services, including assay development and design, screening, screening libraries, bioanalytical services, natural product services, medicinal chemistry, computer-aided drug discovery (CADD) and in vitro ADMET. Assay Design and Development services include gathering assay design requirements and objectives from the client; transferring customer developed assays; coordinating optimizing and validating assays for screening.

Screening programs and collections of the Company give customers the tools to identify active compounds during the lead finding phases of drug discovery. The features of screening programs and collections include availability of high throughput, absolute potency and selectivity screening services, support of large-scale screens of client or sample collections and performance testing.

The Company has created a series of small molecule synthetic compound libraries and a complementary collection of natural product extracts from marine, plant and microbial sources designed for screening and hit-to-lead programs. It is positioned to support active hits from any of these libraries with lead optimization services, analytical services, custom synthesis and/or small- or large-scale manufacturing. Libraries include natural products libraries, target focused discovery libraries, commercial sample library and diverse AMRI sample library. The Company develops and executes bioanalytical methods for extraction and quantitation of drug and metabolites in biological fluids and tissues to support preclinical and clinical studies.

The Company’s CADD services use computational software and techniques to help identify hits or leads against selected therapeutic targets, as well as to support medicinal chemistry lead optimization programs. The Company conducts in vitro ADMET assays to evaluate and improve metabolism, bioavailability, pharmacology and toxicology of compounds.

Chemical Development

The Company’s chemical development services include process research and development. It also include customer synthesis, process safety assessment, scale-up capabilities, high potency and controlled substances, analytical services, preformulation services and physical characterization, preparative chromatography, investigational new drug support services, fermentation development and optimization and building blocks database.

cGMP Manufacturing

The Company provides chemical synthesis and manufacturing services for its customers in accordance with cGMP guidelines. Its Albany, New York location has production facilities and quarantine and restricted access storage necessary to manufacture quantities of drug substances under cGMP regulations sufficient for conducting clinical trials from Phase I through Phase II, and later stages for selected products, based on volume and other parameters. Its large-scale manufacturing facility in Rensselaer, New York is equipped to provide a range of custom chemical development and manufacturing capabilities. The Company conducts commercial cGMP manufacturing of APIs and advanced intermediates. Its large-scale cGMP manufacturing facilities provide synergies with small-scale development laboratories, offering customers services at every scale, from bench to production.

The Company has capabilities in areas of pharmaceutical development and manufacturing, including High Potency Manufacturing. Its Rensselaer facility is licensed by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration to produce Schedule I, II, III, IV and V controlled substances. The facility has produced controlled substances, such as analgesics, amphetamines, barbiturates and anabolic steroids.

Analytical Chemistry Services

The Company provides analytical support for drug discovery, pharmaceutical development and manufacturing. Analytical services include impurity identification and structure elucidation, method development, qualification and validation, preformulation and physical characterization, quality control, regulatory support/quality assurance, preparative chromatography, stability services and bioanalytical services.