Patheon gets U.S. biologics plants with Gallus deal

The big deal in contract manufacturing these days is biologics. Patheon is among those investing in facilities to capture more of that business. Patheon parent DPx has agreed to buy Gallus BioPharmaceuticals, presenting Patheon with its first biologics plants in the U.S.

DPx is buying the biologics contract manufacturer from Ridgemont Equity Partners for an undisclosed sum. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

Gallus' manufacturing plants in St. Louis, MO, and Princeton, NJ, will be folded into Patheon's biologics group, which has existing sites in Groningen, the Netherlands, and Brisbane, Australia. Patheon will add Gallus' 300 or so employees in St. Louis and 100 in Princeton to its group, "resulting in an approximate total of 550 employees globally," a spokesman said.

"We are pleased to expand our biologics business with the acquisition of Gallus BioPharmaceuticals," DPx CEO Jim Mullen, said in a statement. DPx was created earlier this year by the $2.6 billion merger of Patheon and Netherlands-based DSM Pharmaceutical Products. DPx is 51% owned by private investment group JLL Partners and 49% by Royal DSM.

With biologics making up a growing part of the drugs in pipelines and portfolios, a number of drugmakers and contractors having been adding various capabilities to snag business. Lonza this year announced it would invest 14 million Swiss francs ($15.2 million) to double antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) capacity at its massive plant in Visp, Switzerland. French contract manufacturer Novasep said last year that it would invest about $3.7 million in a plant in Le Mans, France, for ADC work. Meanwhile, Fujifilm and Indian manufacturer Piramal have partnered up to develop and manufacture ADCs.

- here's the announcement