Reaxa: Scavengers Business Sold to Johnson Matthey

Reaxa, the pharma metal catalyst and scavenging technology leader, has announced the sale of its Metal Scavenging Business to Johnson Matthey (JM).

The deal involves the transfer of Reaxa’s QuadraPure™ and QuadraSil™ scavengers – leading technology in metal extraction and purification for pharma manufacturing. 

The financial details of the transaction have not been disclosed.

This development will allow the UK-based company to largely concentrate on the development of its catalyst technologies and applications, in particular Reaxa’s new nickel EnCat™ (Ni EnCat™) immobilized nickel catalysts for bulk scale production of high volume intermediates and APIs.

JM is acquiring Reaxa’s family of QuadraPure™ macroporous and microporous resin-based products and QuadraSil™ silica-supported scavengers.  The QuadraPure™ range was launched soon after Reaxa’s formation in mid-2005, with the first phase QuadraSil™ products following in Autumn 2006.

Reaxa CEO Dr. Pete Jackson commented:  “We’re delighted that Reaxa’s QuadraPure™ and QuadraSil™ technologies will now significantly extend JM‘s coverage of the pharma metal recovery and product purification market.

“This development will enable Reaxa to concentrate even more intensively on the application of Ni EnCat™ and our other products to large scale production of high volume intermediates and API, as well as develop the next generation”CP-STAR” technology”.

The EnCat™ range helps to minimise consumption and process loss of precious metals – thereby serving increasingly demanding regulatory, environmental and cost agendas in drug development and commercial scale production.

Reaxa began trading in mid-2005 after a spin-out from the then Avecia Pharmaceuticals, which launched the original EnCat™ catalysts in late 2003.