Recipharm deals boost revenues big time for Swedish CDMO

Swedish CDMO Recipharm has been on a buying and expansion binge for several years and saw it pay off with a significant jump in revenues last year.

The Stockholm-based contractor today reported that revenue grew 54% in the fourth quarter of 2016 to 1.33 billion Swedish kroner ($148.4 million) and 38% for the year to SEK 4.68 billion ($520.4 million).

“The fourth quarter marks the end of a transaction intensive year for Recipharm,” CEO Thomas Eldered said in a statement today. “With an increase in net sales of 54%, we recorded all time high sales for a quarter. Excluding acquisitions sales, it was still the highest ever for a fourth quarter with an increase of 17%, driven by the sterile liquids segment.”

Recipharm’s sterile liquids unit saw 87% growth from 2016 acquisitions and a 59% jump from increased demand and new products, the company said.

Recipharm has been one of the most active buyers in what has been a surge of midsized and large CDMOs snapping up smaller operators around the world to gain skills and geographic reach. Just days ago Recipharm completed the second phase of a $200 million deal to buy operations in India, Sweden and the U.S. from India’s Kemwell that expanded both its drug development skills and API manufacturing.

The arrangement had the Swedish company pay about $85 million for operations in Sweden and the U.S. that included Kemwell’s drug development business in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Last week it concluded the second part of the acquisition with a $118 million buyout of Kemwell’s API business in India. The company said that portion of the buyout will complement its $105 million acquisition in 2015 of a controlling stake in Indian sterile injectables CMO, Nitin Lifesciences.