AMRI buys commercial manufacturer OsoBio for $110m

02-Jun-2014 - Last updated on 03-Jun-2014 at 08:02 GMT

CMO (contract manufacturing organization) AMRI has agreed to acquire Oso Biopharmaceuticals Manufacturing for $110m in cash and thereby expand to late-stage and commercial product manufacturing.

OsoBio is a contract manufacturer of highly complex injectable drug products, including sterile liquid, suspension and lyophilized formulations. The acquisition and associated fees are expected to be financed through AMRI cash, and the deal is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2014.

On the whole, contract manufacturing is a $15bn annual market and it’s the fastest growing segment of the pharmaceutical outsourcing world, with an expected 15% growth over the next five years, according to AMRI. OsoBio’s core capabilities include liquid fill and lyophilized products, highly potent compounds, cytotoxics, proteins and peptides, monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, liposomal suspensions and controlled substances.

OsoBio grew 20% last year and is expected to grow by the same percentage this year and next year, AMRI president and CEO William Marth said in a conference call on Monday. “Whether we can make it grow higher than 20%, I doubt it.”

On a stand-alone basis, Albuquerque, New Mexico-based OsoBio’s forecasted full year 2014 revenue is between $58m and $60m, implying a purchase price multiple of 11 times 2014 adjusted EBITDA at the top end of the range.

We looked at the cost options to build a facility and it seemed to cost about $60m, Marth added, noting that the company identified the goal of bringing customers from Phase I through commercialization.

“We’re seeing high demand out of our fill and finish site in Burlington, Massachusetts right now," Marth said, noting that OsoBio offers “unique aseptic manufacturing techniques…and having commercial manufacturing capabilities will keep products with AMRI through launch.”

The acquisition was made following a competitive bidding process that narrowed quickly down to two bidders, Marth said. “We’re going to be focusing on complex manufacturing and I think the business will grow around biologics and complex products.”

“We are very excited about the synergies that our Albuquerque operations will bring to AMRI as part of their organization,” said Milton Boyer, OsoBio’s President. “The addition of AMRI’s experience and capabilities in early phase development greatly increases the value proposition for our customers, providing a single source to address all sterile fill/finish needs from phase 1 development complete to commercial supply.”

Of their 35 active programs, about half of OsoBio’s customers are in late-stage development, according to AMRI.

OsoBio is expected to continue to operate independently within AMRI’s Drug Product business unit. Boyer will lead the OsoBio team and report to Steven Hagen, AMRI’s SVP of manufacturing and pharmaceuticals.

Similar to the Cedarburg acquisition, there’s little overlap between the two companies and AMRI expects the integration to move quickly, Marth added. The acquisition of Cedarburg occurred in late March and added to AMRI’s complex API manufacturing capabilities.