Actavis buys Pfizer site in Italy to expand oncology output
Icelandic generics group Actavis has agreed to buy a Pfizer manufacturing site near Milan, Italy, to enable it to increase significantly its oncology production - both in terms of manufacturing for Pfizer and directly for itself.
Icelandic generics group Actavis has agreed to buy a Pfizer manufacturing site near Milan, Italy, to enable it to increase significantly its oncology production - both in terms of manufacturing for Pfizer and directly for itself.
The site covers an area of 300,000m2 and employs around 340 permanent staff.
The deal is subject to approval from Italy's antitrust authority and still has to be discussed with unions, although the sale is expected to be completed by the end of January. No financial details have been given.
Actavis plans to develop new products and transfer existing products into Nerviano. The Italian site will work closely with Actavis' Bucharest operation, which also develops and manufactures oncology products. "The transaction will enable us to meet the exciting growth projections we see for our oncology product portfolio over the coming years," said Actavis' ceo and president Robert Wessman.
He added that there is significant capacity at the site for new investment in complementary development and manufacturing activities.
Pfizer said Actavis will continue to ensure production for Pfizer at the site in Nerviano and has entered into a multi-year exclusive agreement with Pfizer for the supply of oncology products.
According to Actavis, its entry into the Italian generics market is gaining momentum and it has opened offices in Saronno, just north of Milan. Its third party sales division, Medis, which sells through other pharmaceutical companies is currently selling 13 products into Italy.
The group says that it has close to 200 registration processes running and that Actavis Italy has already launched about 20 products. The first was the antibiotic amoxicillin in October, followed by citalopram, diazepam and triazolam.
"Actavis has the scale to support a price conscious Italian market and more importantly the high quality products that Italians require," said executive vice president Svend Andersen. "We expect to launch 74 products next year and will support it by full infrastructure and sales force."