In a segment that is notoriously slow to get to market, Solid State Pharma Inc. is a two-year-old biotech company that is not only profitable but also is doubling revenue and staff annually.

Founded by CEO Mahmoud Mirmehrabi, the Halifax-based life sciences company has developed expertise at converting liquid medicines into solids — the pharmaceutical industry’s preferred state to transport and dispense drugs. Mirmehrabi said about 30 per cent of medical compounds are liquids in their natural state, and it is essential to ensure they retain certain properties when converting them to solids. Expertise in doing so is why his company is growing so quickly.

“It’s the demand that is out there, and basically that the pharmaceutical companies are thirsty for high-quality research and work,” Mirmehrabi said in an interview in his office in Halifax’s Innovacorp Enterprise Centre.

He started the company when he arrived in Halifax two years ago with a PhD from London’s University of Western Ontario, and more than a decade-and-a-half of experience with such blue chip drug companies as Pfizer and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. (He has also served as an expert witness in court cases involving drug manufacturing, though he’s too busy now to perform such duties.) Now, Solid State Pharma has a staff of 10, all with graduate degrees, and is growing rapidly.

He said the compounds in a drug can exist in different polymorphs — or a different arrangement of the elements in a compound. But changing the arrangement can affect the properties of the drug, including the solubility or dissolution rate. He noted that both diamonds and graphite are pure carbon, but they’re very different products because of the arrangement of their atoms.

And making mistakes in the solidification of compounds can prove expensive for drug companies. The most notorious case was Abbott Laboratories having to pull its HIV drug, Ritonavir, which resulted in lost sales worth $250 million.

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Mirmehrabi said the largest pharma companies have the in-house capability to solidify their compounds in ways that meet regulatory standards, but small and medium-sized pharmaceutical and natural products companies have to outsource the work. Solid State Pharma is one of only a handful of companies in the world with the equipment and expertise to carry out the task.

The company earns 90 per cent of its revenue abroad and the other 10 per cent from out of province; all of its sales are outside the region. The company is also conducting research into new products or processes.

The company has $700,000 worth of equipment in its labs, and is planning to buy a further $500,000 in additional gear.

The company is profitable and is doubling its revenue and sales each year. It’s a situation Mirmehrabi believes will continue for several years to come, leveling off at a staff of about 60 people. The company has already had opportunities to exit, though he wants to grow the company.

“We’ve had two cases of European companies that were interested in acquiring us,” he said, adding that their interest was strong enough that they came to Halifax to examine the companies.

“We were not interested in pursuing the conversation. The primary reason is we want this company to be here 20 years from now.”