Economy & Economic Development  June 2, 2015

Boulder-based Array BioPharma sells Longmont operations to Minnesota company

BOULDER – Array BioPharma Inc. (Nasdaq: ARRY), a Boulder-based company that develops cancer drugs, has sold its chemistry, manufacturing and controls operations in Longmont to Minnesota-based Accuratus Lab Services for an undisclosed sum.

The two companies announced the deal Tuesday.

As part of the deal, the Array division will now be known as Avista Pharma Solutions, and continue to operate in a 50,000-square-foot space at 2620 Trade Centre Ave. Thirty-three Array employees will be retained by Avista. Accuratus provides analytical and microbial testing services to the medical device and biopharmaceutical industries, and also manufactures certain consumer products.

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Tricia Haugeto, director of corporate communications and public relations for Array, said the rest of Array’s Longmont employees who were not part of the CMC operations have been gradually moving to Array’s 150,000-square-foot campus in Boulder.

Haugeto said Array now has roughly 150 employees, most of whom are in Boulder, where the company has its corporate offices as well as chemistry, biology, drug-discovery, clinical and pre-clinical operations.

In addition to the upfront cash payment, Array will receive additional payment based on achievement of revenue targets by Avista over the next two years, Array officials wrote in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Avista will continue to manufacture drugs for Array in support of its drug discovery and development programs on a contract basis. The sale of the division, however, gives Array some cost savings in periods of reduced manufacturing needs, Haugeto said.

Avista, meanwhile, will be able to expand its business to other clients while helping Accuratus grow as a contract development and manufacturing organization.

“We feel that this gives that team an opportunity to grow and achieve continued success,” Haugeto said.

While Avista will serve Array’s clinical and development needs, Haugeto said the Longmont facilities are not designed for the large-scale production that would be required as some of Array’s later-stage drug candidates reach commercialization.

Accuratus, principally owned by Ampersand Capital Partners, was formed last summer when ATS Labs in Eagan, Minn., acquired Massachussetts-based Microtest Labs.

BOULDER – Array BioPharma Inc. (Nasdaq: ARRY), a Boulder-based company that develops cancer drugs, has sold its chemistry, manufacturing and controls operations in Longmont to Minnesota-based Accuratus Lab Services for an undisclosed sum.

The two companies announced the deal Tuesday.

As part of the deal, the Array division will now be known as Avista Pharma Solutions, and continue to operate in a 50,000-square-foot space at 2620 Trade Centre Ave. Thirty-three Array employees will be retained by Avista. Accuratus provides analytical and microbial testing services to the medical device and biopharmaceutical industries, and also manufactures certain…

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