Looking to cement its spot in the burgeoning realm of radiopharmaceuticals, Florida-based contract manufacturer PharmaLogic is moving forward with a nuclear medicine M&A play.
PharmaLogic is paying an undisclosed sum to pick up a majority stake in Norway’s Agilera Pharma. The move forms part of the CDMO’s strategy to position itself as the industry's first global contract manufacturer specifically dedicated to radiopharmaceuticals, PharmaLogic said in a press release.
Agilera, founded in 2023 as a subsidiary of the Institute for Energy Technology in Norway, produces radiopharmaceutical therapies for patients in the U.S., Europe and Asia. To date, the company has delivered more than 600,000 doses of these advanced medicines, PharmaLogic said in an April 9 press release.
Radiopharmaceuticals contain radioactive substances that can be used for diagnostic imaging or to treat diseases such as cancer by delivering radiation to specific areas of the body. The field's popularity has been on the rise in recent years, attracting the attention of major pharma outfits like Novartis, which itself has two approved radiotherapies in Lutathera and Pluvicto.
As it stands, Agilera is one of just two CDMOs globally that manufactures radiopharmaceutical therapeutics, PharmaLogic's president, Etienne Montagut, said in a statement.
Aside from its early- to clinical-phase contract manufacturing business, Agilera also provides commercial production and distribution services and acts as the national wholesaler for radiopharmaceuticals in Norway, PharmaLogic explained in its release.
PharmaLogic added that it plans to invest in expansions of Agilera’s infrastructure and manufacturing footprint to help meet mounting demand for radiopharmaceutical therapeutics around the world.
Financial terms of the Agilera deal, which is expected to be finalized by the end of June, weren’t disclosed.
“By combining our expertise with Agilera’s industry-leading scale and quality systems, we will be uniquely positioned to offer an end-to-end solution for manufacturing therapeutics at scale and ultimately improve global patient access to these essential treatments," PharmaLogic's Montagut said in the company's release.
Globally, the radiopharmaceuticals market was estimated to be worth $6.74 billion in 2024 and is projected to hit $7.51 billion this year. The market is expected to nearly double to $14.4 billion by 2034, according to an analysis by Precedence Research.
PharmaLogic, for its part, specializes in contract manufacturing and development services for diagnostic imagining and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals.
In addition to producing radiopharmaceuticals, PharmaLogic also manages a distribution network of compounding pharmacies across the U.S. that handle radioactive drugs, which is key given the therapies' short shelf-life.