Patheon sells chemicals sites to focus on pharma ahead of IPO

The contract manufacturing organisation (CMO) announced it had sold its enzyme and protein production plant in Capua, Italy to Germany’s LIVIA Group this week.

In addition to supplying the pharmaceutical sector, the Capua facility also ships to the food, feed, pharma, agrochemical and fine chemical industries.

Patheon also agreed to a management buyout at its exclusive synthesis and maleic anhydride intermediates and specialties businesses in Linz, Austria. The deal is being supported by French investment group Ardian.

Pharma​

According to Patheon, the divestitures are part of its strategy of focusing on the pharmaceutical sector, which has already seen it sell its soft-gel capsule manufacturing facility in Mexico to consumer products firm Perrigo​.

The Mexico city site –gained with the acquisition of Banner Pharmacaps in 2012​ – makes capsules for over-the-counter drugs and nutritional supplements for local markets. It was deemed surplus to requirements by Patheon, which has capacity at other facilities.

Patheon has also made pharma-focused acquisitions this year.

In March, it bought Oregon’s Agere Pharmaceuticals​ and South Carolina’s IRIX​ in deals that added bioavailibilty enhancement and active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) capacity, respectively.

Before that, in 2014, Patheon and its parent company DPx bought US contractor Gallus BioPharmaceuticals​.

The focus on pharma is part of DPx’s preparation for its planned initial public offering (IPO), which was announced in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in June​.

The decision to list follows just a year after CMO sector rival Catalent​ went public.