Recipharm has purchased a manufacturing facility from Flamel Technologies ($FLML) in Pessac, France, for $13.2 million. The move is part of an effort to incorporate drug delivery technologies into its contract development business.
Recipharm is a Sweden-based CDMO offering pharmaceutical manufacturing, product development services and clinical trial material production.
The companies announced the transaction and a 5-year service agreement last week. In addition to the factory purchase, Recipharm will invest $13.06 million into Flamel stock. The transaction is expected to close before the end of the year.
The Pessac facility, located in the Bordeaux region, is equipped with three spray-coating machines, warehousing, laboratories and equipment for polymer synthesis. It is currently used to manufacture Flamel's Meduca and Micropump proprietary drug delivery technologies.
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| Flamel CEO Mike Anderson |
"Flamel's primary objective is the development of products using the company's proprietary drug delivery platforms," said Mike Anderson, CEO of Flamel, said in a statement. "The sale of the Pessac facility frees us from the time-consuming task of running a contract development manufacturing facility. This sale allows us to continue development of our proprietary products using our current drug delivery technologies at the Pessac facility and the option to utilize Recipharm's commercial manufacturing capabilities elsewhere."
Under the partnership, Flamel retains access to the plant's capabilities and gains the use of Recipharm's various facilities for proprietary pipeline development or manufacturing.
The two companies have also agreed to negotiate a contract intended to further enhance the benefits of the partnership whereby Recipharm will utilize Flamel's drug delivery technologies to increase the efficiency of its formulations. As part of the deal, Recipharm has the option to negotiate for the European rights to any Flamel product.
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| Recipharm CEO Thomas Eldred |
"Development services is in many respects a 'local' business so having another center in addition to Sweden should allow us to increase this aspect of our business. Our investment into Flamel is also particularly exciting given the clear strategy that they are pursuing," Recipharm CEO Thomas Eldred said in a statement. "The commitment we are both showing towards each other is a clear demonstration of the bright future we see for this relationship. We are looking forward to supporting Flamel to fulfill their ambitions to develop and manufacture new products based on their proprietary technology."
Flamel Technologies focuses on blending internally developed products with its drug delivery strengths, according to its release. The company markets Bloxiverz and Vazculep in the U.S. and manufactures Micropump-based microparticles under FDA-audited GMP guidelines for Coreg CR.
- read the release