Pharmaron acquires commercial API manufacturing facility in the United Kingdom from Recipharm

Pharmaron Beijing Co., Limited announced today that it has acquired Aesica Pharmaceuticals Limited from Recipharm group.

The Cramlington Site in Newcastle, United Kingdom, has an established history of cGMP manufacturing services for an array of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API), ranging from pilot scale to commercial metric ton scale. The Cramlington Site has more than 100 cubic meter reactor commercial capacity and has been inspected and approved by the MHRA, FDA and other regulatory authorities.

This acquisition expands Pharmaron’s world-class chemistry and manufacturing services, which is an important component of its fully integrated platform. The synergistic integration of the Cramlington Site with Pharmaron’s existing service capabilities of discovery, process development and early-stage cGMP API manufacturing at Hoddesdon will enable a complete end-to-end chemistry and manufacturing service offering in the United Kingdom. This addition further strengthens Pharmaron’s global service network to provide customized solutions to meet our partners’ geographic and strategic needs.

Dr. Boliang Lou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pharmaron, commented, “We are delighted to have the Cramlington Site join the Pharmaron Group. This acquisition complements and further enhances Pharmaron’s CMC capabilities in the United Kingdom and China. We are committed to expanding the Cramlington Site to meet growing demand. Together with our API manufacturing facility expansion in China, this transaction is another important step in realizing our vision of becoming a leading global provider of integrated small molecule drug R&D and manufacturing services.”

Marc Funk, CEO of Recipharm, commented, “This divestment helps us to streamline our operations in line with our strategic goals and better align with our customers’ evolving needs. I am pleased that the Cramlington Site will get a committed owner with the capacity and capability to develop it to its full potential. As a top five global CDMO, we will continue to develop and invest in our highly successful contract manufacturing business.”

Goetzpartners securities acted as exclusive financial advisor to Pharmaron, and O’Melveny acted as legal advisor. Results Healthcare acted as exclusive financial advisor to Recipharm and Addleshaw Goddard acted as legal advisor.