As part of expansion plans, Tokyo-based glass and chemical producer AGC Asahi Glass decided to move into life sciences. It has now worked on that goal, buying a European producer of clinical supplies with plans to tie it to AGC's commercial scale production.
AGC announced today that it had acquired Heidelberg, Germany-based clinical supply producer Biomeva. The company was founded in 1993 and currently produces about 450 batches a year of cGMP-compliant material at the 100 L to 1000 L scale. It can handle process development, cGMP compliant fermentation, purification and bulk filling, as well as analytical testing and cell banking.
But with its new owner, Biomeva will be able to add considerably to its capacity, CEO Thomas Pultar said today in a statement. “By combining Biomeva’s capabilities and AGC’s large scale manufacturing capacities we will generate a new and strong international microbial CMO, offering the complete services from process development to large scale market supply. To me, this is a perfect synergy between Biomeva’s strength in clinical manufacturing and AGC’s expertise and capacity for commercial production,” he said.
Other Japanese companies also have made this kind of direction change, even on a larger scale. Fujifilm, looking to expand beyond its declining film business, jumped into biologics manufacturing in 2011 when it reportedly paid about $490 million to buy biologics plants in North Carolina and Northeast England from Merck & Co. ($MRK). The company has since expanded, most recently opening a 62,000-square-foot facility in Research Triangle Park, NC, to house its process and analytical research and development, process sciences and stability groups. The BioProcess Innovation Center also will be used to develop more efficient biologics manufacturing processes.
- here’s the release
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