Japan’s AGC, formerly Asahi Glass Co., has agreed to buy Malgrat Pharma Chemicals (MPC), a Spanish subsidiary of Boehringer Ingelheim that manufactures synthetic pharmaceutical active ingredients for the German group. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The acquisition will give AGC a foothold in Europe and broaden its presence as a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) for the European pharmaceutical industry.

MPC makes cGMP-compliant commercialized synthetic pharmaceuticals for Boehringer as well as compounds in clinical development on a range of scales.

Combining MPC’s capabilities and assets with its own, AGC said it will leverage its own fluorination technologies and extensive in-house experience in drug discovery along with the CDMO business it has built up in Japan.

The deal also gives AGC its first site in Europe that is registered with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The Tokyo-headquartered group has identified life sciences as one of its strategic businesses. AGC said it will continue to actively invest in this sector to provide globally unified high-quality services to the synthetic drug and biopharmaceutical industries.