Recipharm firms up French position
The deal, financial terms of which are not being disclosed, sees Recipharm purchase the site from Solvay Pharmaceuticals’ Laboratoires Fournier subsidiary. Recipharm has also bought the sites’ dedicated logistics centre and will retain the existing workforce.
The new unit will work in concert with Recipharm’s sterile manufacturing facility in Monts, also in France, that was purchased from AstraZeneca last July. The firm plans to use the additional capacity to diversify its product range and client base.
In an interview Recipharm’s vice president of corporate development Mark Quick explained that the Fontaine-Les-Dijon site, the firm’s second in France, consolidates its position in the country and makes use of the strong financial position provided by the sale of its branded products to Meda in 2007.
Quick added that: "Having a local asset gives us improved access to local clients such as generics firms or medium sized virtual companies with delivery platforms that we can help develop and eventually manufacture on a commercial scale."
In a press statement Thomas Eldered, CEO of Stockholm-headquartered Recipharm, said that the new site is a further step in the firm’s efforts to move up the global contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) league table.
Biologics manufacturing
In related news Recipharm has completed the acquisition of a majority stake in AstraZeneca’s Biotech laboratory (ABL) in Sweden, taking position of its share of the facility on January 1. The site bolts on biologics manufacturing capacity to the company’s offering.
Under the terms of the arrangement, Recipharm will lease the ABL from AstraZeneca, which retains a 20 per cent share of the facility, for an initial period of 12 years, purchasing all associated equipment and employing the existing staff.
In recent years Recipharm, already one of the world’s top 10 earning CMOs, has focused on expanding production capabilities across all areas of the drug industry. The move into biologics suggests that this approach is set to continue.
Quick commented that: "while small molecule drugs will continue to be of importance going forward, biologics will be of growing importance to the pharmaceutical industry and to Recipharm’s business."
