Headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina, Ritedose has been a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) in the blow-fill-seal (BFS) technology arena since the late 1990s when, as Holopack International, it first received FDA approval for the manufacture and distribution of drug products.
It provides outsourced development and manufacturing of ophthalmology drugs, respiratory drugs, and vaccines. Current capacity is two billion units per annum and its customers range from small start-ups and large pharmaceutical companies to wholesalers, retail pharmacies and hospital systems.
Jody Chastain, CEO of Ritedose, will continue to lead the subsidiary under Novo’s ownership.
Abhijeet Lele, senior partner and head of principal investments US, Novo Holdings, said the investors were “excited to be at the vanguard of increasing vaccine availability through the use of blow-fill-seal injectable technology.”
The financial details of the deal were not disclosed. However, media outlets previously predicted the deal could be worth north of US$1.5bn.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in Q1 this year.
BFS is an advanced aseptic manufacturing process where the container is formed, filled and sealed in one continuous automated system, assuring consistent doses and the highest degree of sterility, according to Ritedose. The packaging technology is ideal for high-speed production and cost effective when compared to glass, it added.
In 2020, Ritedose was chosen as a subcontractor to ApiJect for the production of single-dose prefilled syringes targeting COVID-19 vaccines, and, as part of the US Operation Warp Speed, teams from both entities set about repurposing and upgrading equipment to enable capacity for fill and finish of up to 45 million prefilled syringes per month.
