West: Proprietary Products Propped by Packaging and Manufacturing

By Dan Stanton

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags Food and drug administration

West Pharmaceuticals FY2012 results
West Pharmaceuticals FY2012 results
West Pharmaceuticals says it is still intent on shifting to proprietary products following results from its packaging and contract manufacturing businesses.

Total revenues for fiscal year 2012 were up 10 percent on 2011, totaling $1.27bn (€960m) of which $227m and $94m came from packaging and delivery systems respectively, though net profit only grew modestly on last year to $80.7m.

David Windley, an analyst from Jeffries, said that though packaging components had been expected to wane, West “continues to see robust activity”​ in the sector. “The demand is driven by new customer plants in China and contract opportunities in the Middle East, Africa, and Far East.”

West CEO Don Morel made his intentions clear on moving towards high-end production and, on a company conference call, said: “Clearly the investments we made over the past two years in washing and vision systems are bearing fruit.”

He continued, adding: “With continuing product conversions by our customers and new products coming to the market, we expect the high value products to continue their growth for the foreseeable future.”

Last August, West began construction on a pharmaceutical packaging plant in India​ in light of the growing importance of the Asia-Pacific market.

However, plans show that the plant will commence with more traditional stoppers and closures manufacture keeping supply of high-end products for West’s Asian clients coming from West’s Singapore facility.

Crystal Zenith Drug Delivery

At the end of the first quarter of 2012, West spoke of its intention to restructure its business​ model away from the 80/20 split between contract manufacturing and proprietary products, concentrating specifically on its Crystal Zenith (CZ) delivery system.

Though the company saw a 16 percent increase in sales of its proprietary systems, CZ - a silicone-free, ready-to-use prefillable syringe system developed by Daikyo - only contributed $9m to the total, falling slightly short of 2012 guidance.

Muted sales is due to regulatory factors, as two years of stability testing is necessary for the injectable before FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) approval for commercial scale can be requested.

 “While revenues during the next year and a half are expected to be somewhat lumpy,”​ said Morel, “the formal stability trials put a stake in the ground in terms of timing for commercialization.”

West has already started clocking up clients and still expects substantial commercial sales to come in the next few years.

Windley said that revenue from CZ should grow to $12-14m in 2013. More importantly, substantial commercial CZ orders (the inflection point) aren't expected until 4Q 2015 or early 2016.”

Related news

Show more

Related products

show more

Increasing the Bioavailability of Oncology Drugs

Increasing the Bioavailability of Oncology Drugs

Content provided by Lonza Small Molecules | 13-Nov-2023 | White Paper

Oral tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are a class of cancer drugs that can be highly susceptible to issues with solubility in the gastrointestinal tract

Addressing Challenges with Clinical In-Use Testing

Addressing Challenges with Clinical In-Use Testing

Content provided by Lonza | 12-Oct-2023 | White Paper

Lonza Drug Product expert Léa Sorret PhD explores Clinical In-Use Testing of Biotherapeutics in this white paper. Léa shares her expertise and describes...

PBPK modeling that saves you time and money

PBPK modeling that saves you time and money

Content provided by Lonza Small Molecules | 09-Oct-2023 | White Paper

Understanding pharmacokinetic behaviors ahead of later-stage development means making informed decisions earlier. This enhanced capability helps your drug...

Related suppliers

Follow us

Products

View more

Webinars