Fresnius Kabi bought the BD unit – BD Rx – last week in a deal that added a production facility in Wilson, North Carolina to its network. At present the site makes BD’s ‘Simplist’ range of injectable pain medications.
The German firm told us that all members of the 100-strong workforce employed at the site will "continue to be employed with Fresenius Kabi."
The drugmaker also signed a 10-year contract that will see it “supply BD with a portfolio of intraveneous solutions” further details of which were not provided.
Prior to the agreement, the Fresenius Kabi only produced sterile products in vials and the move into prefilled injectables was a natural extension of the firm’s offering according to US CEO John Ducker.
“Ready-to-administer, prefilled syringes are a growing segment in health care due to increased focus on medication safety and labor-saving efficiency.
“They are a natural complement to our portfolio, enabling us to offer customers more choices and a broader range of specialty injectable medicines in vials as well as ready-to-administer presentations” he said.
This was confirmed by a spokesman who told us Fresenius is considering expanding the injectables portfolio.
"We anticipate being able to offer several products in both vials and PFS presentations to support the different needs of customers and health care providers in these two distinct and differentiated segments."
North Carolina
Fresenius also said it plans to invest in the Wilson facility to establish it as a centre of excellence for prefilled syringe production.
The deal follows a year and a half after Fresenius sold a facility in neighbouring Raleigh, North Carolina to active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturer Xellia.