Avista Pharma Solutions.

• Position: CAMBREX CASH

Durham-based Avista Pharma Solutions is being acquired by Cambrex, a publicly traded drug developer based in East Rutherford, N.J, for $252 million in cash. Avista moved its headquarters from Longmont, Colo., to Durham in 2015 after purchasing the contract-manufacturing and research business of biotech company Scynexis. Avista also has facilities in Agawam, Mass., and Edinburgh, Scotland.

Cambrex makes active pharmaceutical ingredients for small-molecule therapeutics, a diverse group of drugs that includes everything from cancer therapies to narcotics. Its revenue in 2017 topped $534 million. Avista is the company's second acquisition in the last year --in September it acquired Halo Pharma, a New...