In July, Pfizer announced it would close or sell its Thane, Mumbai manufacturing facility with effect from September 16. Today, the Big Pharma firm revealed it has found a buyer.
“Pfizer Limited has announced that it has entered into a Business Transfer Agreement (BTA) for the transfer of the company’s business at the Thane plant as a going concern to Vidhi Research and Development,” the firm said in a statement sent to in-Pharmatechnologist.
“Upon the conclusion of the BTA, all current workmen at the plant shall be transferred to the buyer so as to facilitate manufacturing operations.”
Gujarat-based company Vidhi is a relatively new entrant in the Indian pharma industry and will pay a lump sum of 1.78bn rupees ($27m) for the site, located in the Maharashtra region of India.
The plant was shuttered and put up for sale following a long-term viability assessment by Pfizer.
“There has practically been no production activity at this plant since 2013, and the closure will not impact the supply of any of the Company's medicines to patients,” the firm said in the July filing.
And spokesperson Trupti Wagh added the company remains committed to India, telling this publication Pfizer continues to “manufacture its products at its facility in Goa and at several partner facilities across the country.”
The area has seen several exits from global pharma firms over the past few years. GSK shuttered an API plant in 2012, opting instead to outsource production, and the following year Evotec announced it was relocating its chemistry operations from Thane to the UK.