Pfizer and Sun Pharma are the latest firms to invest in sterile injectable firms, following Par Pharmaceuticals’ $490m acquisition of JHP Group Holdings in January, and Mylan’s purchase of India-based Agila for $1.6bn last year
Pfizer’s agreement to buy New Jersey-based InnoPharma for $225m ((€166m) cash (plus up to $135m in milestone payments) is worth just one five-hundredth of the recently rejected AstraZeneca bid, but the deal strengthens Pfizer’s sterile injectable portfolio to 73 marketed and FDA-filed products.
Furthermore, Pfizer gains 30 injectable and ophthalmic products currently in development and the acquisition was described by John Young, group president, Pfizer Global Established as: “An important milestone as we continue to look for innovative growth opportunities for our sterile injectables portfolio.”
InnoPharma has a facility in Piscataway, New Jersey, with capabilities that include the development of solutions, suspension, lyophilized, emulsions, liposomes, micelles and lipid complexes, as well as being equipped to handle potent and cytotoxic molecules.
Sun deal
Also this week, India-headquartered generic maker Sun Pharma announced one of its subsidiaries has acquired injectable manufacturer Pharmalucence.
Pharmalucence offers formulation development and manufacturing services of non-cytotoxic human injectables from its 70,000 sq ft facility in Billerica, Massachusetts.
The firm manufactures the blood thinner Coumadin for Bristol-Myers Squibb, who was involved in a recall earlier this month following the detection of visible particles in a number of vials, which the firm suggested was the result of the production process.