AMPAC Fine Chemicals Expands Capabilities With Facilities in LaPorte, Texas

LAS VEGAS, April 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In support of its strategy of positioning for future growth, American Pacific Corporation (Nasdaq: APFC) announced today that its subsidiary, AMPAC Fine Chemicals has expanded its California-based pharmaceutical chemicals business into LaPorte, Texas. The LaPorte plant is a multi-purpose manufacturing facility specializing in the production of registered intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for the pharmaceutical industry.  The plant is well known for its expertise in performing energetic chemistry at large scale and has been successfully inspected by the Food and Drug Administration--most recently in 2008. With state of the art equipment, these cGMP manufacturing facilities were completed in 2001 with significant new equipment added in the last four years.  The addition of these facilities increases AMPAC Fine Chemicals' total reactor capacity by approximately 30%. The LaPorte facilities were purchased by American Pacific Corporation on April 9, 2010 for $475 thousand plus other direct costs.

"With the addition of these facilities, we continue to move toward our vision of creating value-added growth in cGMP pharmaceutical chemical manufacturing," stated Aslam Malik, President of AMPAC Fine Chemicals.  "This additional capability in Texas, which includes commercial scale hydrogenation, as well as azide, cyanide, and phosgene capabilities, fits well with our areas of established expertise in Energetic Chemistry and Continuous Processing. While it will take some time to fill this expanded capacity, our pipeline remains strong and we foresee the need for this capacity as our development products mature."

"Building new capacity to accommodate future growth just did not make sense to us with excellent facilities sitting relatively idle and available on attractive terms," commented Joe Carleone, CEO of American Pacific Corporation. "We are convinced that the pharmaceutical companies will continue to grow their outsourcing strategy for chemicals, especially when unique technologies are involved; as the industry rebounds, we will be there to serve our customers' increasing needs."

LaPorte is in the heart of the chemical industry in the Houston area, giving AMPAC Fine Chemicals access to some of the best infrastructure and personnel resources in the world.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Statements contained in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including without limitation statements regarding the Company's expectations, beliefs or intentions regarding the future and other statements of management's opinion. Forward-looking statements in this press release include without limitation statements concerning or relating to creating value-added growth in cGMP pharmaceutical chemical manufacturing, our expectation of needs for additional capacity, the strength and maturation of our pipeline and development products, expectations that pharmaceutical companies will continue to grow their outsourcing strategies, expectations that the industry will rebound, and our ability to serve our customers' increasing needs.  The inclusion of forward-looking statements should not be regarded as a representation by American Pacific Corporation and its affiliates (collectively, "American Pacific") that any of American Pacific's expectations will be achieved.  Actual results may differ materially from future results or outcomes expressed or implied by forward-looking statements set forth in this press release due to risks, uncertainties and other important factors inherent in American Pacific's business.  Factors that might cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to, those included in the "Risk Factors" section of the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2009 filed by American Pacific Corporation with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.  Readers of this press release are referred to the filings of American Pacific Corporation with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2009 and the Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009, for further discussion of these and other factors that could affect future results. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and American Pacific assumes no obligation to update for actual results or to update the reasons why actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, except as required by law.  

ABOUT AMPAC FINE CHEMICALS LLC

AFC is a U.S.-based company with demonstrated capabilities in process development, scale-up, and cGMP-compliant commercial production of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API's) and registered intermediates for pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers. Its specially engineered facilities and experienced staff allow AFC to safely produce highly energetic compounds at commercial scale. In addition, AFC's other technology platforms include production of highly potent compounds, continuous processes and industrial-scale chromatographic separation using simulated moving bed chromatography (SMB). Additional information about AFC can be obtained by visiting www.ampacfinechemicals.com.

ABOUT AMERICAN PACIFIC CORPORATION

American Pacific Corporation (AMPAC) is a leading custom manufacturer of fine chemicals, specialty chemicals and propulsion products within its focused markets. We supply active pharmaceutical ingredients and advanced intermediates to the pharmaceutical industry. For the aerospace and defense industry we provide specialty chemicals used in solid rocket motors for space launch and military missiles. AMPAC also designs and manufactures liquid propulsion systems, valves and structures for space and missile defense applications. We produce clean agent chemicals for the fire protection industry, as well as electro-chemical equipment for the water treatment industry. Our products are designed to meet customer specifications and often must meet certain governmental and regulatory approvals. Additional information about us can be obtained by visiting www.apfc.com.

SOURCE American Pacific Corporation

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