Patheon exiting most manufacturing at U.K. plant

There is more downsizing in store for the struggling Canadian contract manufacturer Patheon ($PTI).

Unable to sell its facility in Swindon, U.K., the company says that over the next two to three years it will stop taking on new non-cephalosporin commercial production there, finish up as much as it can and transfer the rest to other facilities. 

The company also plans to move to other facilities most of its product development work at Swindon that requires commercialization. The company says in a release that it will work with customers to try to "maintain supply chain continuity." As part of the cutbacks, 91 employees across the system are being laid off, spokeswoman Wendy Wilson told FiercePharmaManufacturing.

Patheon, which started this restructuring last year in the face of tepid sales, will take charges of between $55 million and $65 million in the second quarter to cover the costs of writing down assets at Swindon and paying for termination expenses.

To boost its bottom line, Patheon last year said it would get out of semi-solids and clinical packaging and start closing facilities and consolidating operations. As Outsourcing-Pharma reported previously, the company had put the Swindon facility on the block and indicated it had interest. It plans to close one plant in Puerto Rico and transfer production to a second plant there. It also has consolidated quality control and other operations in Canada.

- here's the announcement
- more from Contract Pharma
- get background from Outsourcing-Pharma