The deal, which is due to take place on January 31, will add Wasserburger's commercial-scale lyophilisation and aseptic filling facility in Southern Germany to Recipharm's European manufacturing network.
The Swedish contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) entered the lyophilisation market in August 2008 with the purchase of a facility in Basel, Switzerland from Inotech Labor.
While that site’s 250L capacity is sufficient for trial supplies, it is not suitable for the type of commercial-scale manufacturing that Recipharm wants to start offering drug industry clients, hence the Wasserburger deal.
Recipharm also stressed that Wasserburger's roster of customers and location in Germany will further strengthen its position in Europe following the acquisition of a tablet and capsule making facility in France last January and UK contract biologics maker Cobra Biologics last month.
CEO Thomas Eldered said: “Combining [Wasserburger] with our existing capabilities will I believe enable us to maximise our growth potential and put us in a very strong position for the future. We are also pleased to be extending our customer base.”
Investment “fuel” for Hospira
The Wasserburger sale also fits with the “Project Fuel” efficiency drive and restructuring plan that Hospira announced in March last year as company COO Terrence Kearney explained.
"This agreement reduces manufacturing redundancies and complexity, while freeing up resources to invest in new manufacturing technology.”
These investments began in October last year with the acquisition of worldwide rights to the granulocyte colony-stimulating factor filgrastim and a biologics plant from Croatian drugmaker Pliva.
More recently Hospira agreed to pay $400m (€278m) India’s Orchid Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals approximately for its generic injectables business.