The deal – financial terms of which were not disclosed – will see US based Avara buy the plant in Avlon, UK and take on 210 employees. The firm has also been contracted to supply AstraZeneca with active pharmaceutical ingredients (API).
The facility was earmarked for closure in 2008 when AstraZeneca said it would outsource production of the ingredients for blockbuster cardiovascular drug Crestor (rosuvastatin) and schizophrenia drug Seroquel (Quetiapine).
In 2014 AstraZeneca reiterated the closure plan and said it would wind up operations by 2017. At the time a spokesman told us “The majority of API manufacturing undertaken at Avlon will be outsourced once the site closes.”
News of the deal comes less than a month after Avara said it is buying the contract manufacturing business of Japanese drug producer Astellas Pharma. The deal, financial terms of which were not disclosed, also saw Avara contracted to make products for Astellas.