Dive Brief:
- Swedish CDMO Recipharm AB has inked a two-pronged deal with Roche to manufacture solid dose products for the pharma giant, in addition to acquiring Roche's manufacturing facility near Madrid, Spain.
- The supply agreement will add an estimated €35 million (about $42 million) a year to Recipharm's annual sales, or roughly equivalent to 6% of the multinational contractor's current revenue.
- The production facility, located in Leganes, Spain and employing about 200 staff, is licensed to supply solid dose products to nearly 100 countries. Agreement closure and site handover is expected to be completed by the end of 2017, Recipharm said in a Sept. 20 release.
Dive Insight:
In November 2015, Roche announced plans to restructure its small molecule manufacturing as a result of a pivot towards newer generation therapeutics and more specialized manufacturing.
This shift included plans to divest four manufacturing sites — in Clarecastle, Ireland; Leganés, Spain; Segrate, Italy; and Florence, South Carolina — while investing in a facility in Kaiseraugst, Switzerland geared towards specialty medicines.
The Leganés site is the last of the four to be resolved. Last June, Roche had agreed to sell the facility to the Greek contract manufacturer Famar, thereby providing the CMO with access to the U.S. market.
However, Roche confirmed in an email to BioPharma Dive that the transaction with Famar fell through and was terminated in mid-2016. That left an opportunity for Recipharm to move in.
"It has become clear during our interactions with Roche that we are closely aligned in our ways of doing business, and we look forward to developing this relationship further by providing high-quality, reliable supplies from Leganés in future," said Recipharm CEO Thomas Eldered in a statement.
Recipharm has been acquisitive over the last couple of years. In 2016, it signed agreements to acquire the Italian contract development and manufacturing organization Mitim, the U.S., Swedish and Indian operations of Kemwell, and a majority stake in the Indian CMO Nitin Life Sciences.
Recipharm said the acquisition of the Leganés site will provide opportunities for collaboration with an existing site near Barcelona and integration with the company's broader solids manufacturing network.
As for the other three Roche sites? After a number of attempts to sell its facility in Clarecastle, Ireland, Roche began the process of closure in May 2016 through a multi-year phased process.
In November last year, Patheon bought the 300,000 square-foot Florence, South Carolina site, which specializes in active pharmaceutical ingredients. This deal also came along with a multi-year supply arrangement with Roche. And just last month, Delpharm and Roche completed the sale of the solid and liquid formulation facility in Segrate, retaining all site employees.