As part of a business refocus, fine chemicals supplier BASF announced today it has set in motion the sale of part of its pharma supply business and three production sites to contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) Siegfried for €270m ($305m).
"Approximately 100 active pharmaceutical ingredients and advanced intermediates for the pharmaceutical industry are in scope of this transaction," including major products such as the stimulants caffeine, pseudoephedrine and ephedrine, Andres-Christian Orthofer, a BASF spokesman said.
Despite this, he told in-Pharmatechnologist.com BASF "has been and will be highly committed to the pharmaceutical industry," but will now "focus its pharmaceutical business on its core expertise and unique strength in excipients and selected active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) such as omega-3, ibuprofen or PEGs."
This is evident by the introduction of new offerings for pharma customers, he said, which have focused on areas such as solubilisation, skin delivery and modified release.
Furthermore, "the company recently announced an up to $70m (€56m) investment project in its PVP value chain," he said, as well as increased its stake in the pharmaceutical omega-3 field "through the acquisitions of Pronova Biopharma and Equatec with a total investment of over €700m."
Business as normal for pharma clients
If the sale goes through, Siegfried will take over operations at sites in Minden (Germany), Evionnaz (Switzerland) and Saint-Vulbas (France), and it will be production as normal as 850 staff are transferred over from BASF.
"We have informed all our customer through our global sales network accordingly," Orthofer said. "BASF’s key objective is that our customers continue to receive the high quality and reliable supply of products during the transition phase to Siegfried. Therefore, BASF is rendering transitional services to ensure a smooth and seamless business transfer for both, our customers and our employees."
According to Siegfried CEO Rudolf Hanko, the deal will see his company "reach the critical size to play a leading role in the supplier market as a recognized partner for the pharmaceutical industry.
"This acquisition demonstrates the growth potential for the Siegfried Group."