The purchase of Encap Drug Delivery is another development in a currently dynamic marketplace, with Capsugel benefitting from the Scottish CDMO’s lipid-based formulation expertise and the world’s largest liquid and semi-solid filled capsule facility.
“This acquisition will accelerate the strategy laid down in the recently announced formation of the DFS Business Unit,” President of the unit Amit Patel told in-Pharmatechnologist.com.
He added, “Encap adds important value to Capsugel as a whole,” giving the company “access to technology platforms, development capabilities, and manufacturing infrastructure – including a fully accredited [US] FDA and MHRA facility.”
The cGMP manufacturing facility in Livingston, UK includes 15,000 square feet of clean room area and a dedicated high containment suite as well as manufacturing equipment capable of batch sizes of up to 100m capsules.
According to Patel, it will be business as usual at the facility with Capsugel keeping all current contracts and personnel. However, the “site is not yet fully utilized” and there “is room to expand and grow within the current infrastructure” as part of the DFS Unit.
Capsugel will also acquire Encap’s R&D intellectual property and technology platforms including DuoCap and ENCODE, two targeted release technologies which complement its offerings as the company develops products to improve bioavailability, absorption, ability to stabilize, ability to optimize and behavior of products.
Financial details of the deal have not been disclosed.
More Acquisitions in the Pipeline?
The Capsugel-Encap deal is the second major takeover announced in the oral dose drug delivery sector in as many months, following Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings purchase of global HPMC and gelatin capsule company Qualicaps. Furthermore, back in October, Patheon entered the softgel market with its acquisition of Banner Pharmacaps.
In-Pharmatechnolgy.com asked Patel whether recent acquisitions were due to any specific factor and what direction the industry is moving in.
“Regarding the industry as a whole, each acquisition has its own driving thesis,” he said adding that these big deals should not affect competitiveness or quality of the product. “When the right companies join forces, whether through mergers or partnerships, the customer can benefit in the form of better products and services.”
Patel continued to say that he expects that there will be further deals and Capsugel itself will continue to look and consider further acquisitions in both its DFS and hard capsules business areas.