The Belgian firm made the "strategic move" by selling its Baudette, north Minnesota facilities to ANI Pharmaceuticals, a US pharmaceutical company focused on generic prescription and over the counter product markets as well as contract manufacturing. The Main Street and hormone facilities include the manufacture and packaging of Estratest, a drug which alleviates the vasomotor symptoms of menopause, and the packaging of Prometrium, which is used in the prevention of endometrial hyperplasia in post-menopausal women, as well as Creon minimicrospheres, used for the treatment of pancreatic enzyme deficiency in cystic fibrosis. ANI will take over all the current drug manufacturing and packaging activities performed at the Baudette facilities on behalf of Solvay under a new contract manufacturing deal it has inked with the firm, which also includes the provision of contract laboratory services. The move, effective April 30, is part of Solvay's ongoing "global manufacturing strategic planning which involves maximising the company's resources and where they should best be invested," company spokesperson Neil Hirsch told Outsourcing-Pharma.com. This is the first time a relationship has been forged between the two companies, said Hirsch, who also said that while the terms of the contract could not be disclosed, there were no job losses as a result of the sale.
