J&J to sell French production site to the Famar group
McNeil plan to sell its Orleans production site to pharma contract services company Famar
McNeil, an OTC subsidiary of the Johnson & Johnson group, is planning to sell its Orleans production site to pharma contract services company Famar.
J& has owned the site since the end of 2006; previously it belonged to Pfizer and was used for the manufacture of OTC products. The site specialises in the production of liquid and paste products.
The site is expected to continue to make McNeil products for between five and eight years and activities from Famar's own site in Orleans will be transferred to the McNeil site by 2013. The Famar site in Orleans was bought from Novartis in 2001 and makes effervescent products, chewable products and sachets.
The sale will result in a loss of 170 jobs over a five-year period, mainly through natural wastage, from both the McNeil site and the Famar site.
Famar said it purchased the McNeil site as it needs to develop a high-performance medicinal product platform, producing both OTC and prescription products. The company intends to implement a plan to improve productivity on the site and set up a new organisation covering the two sites.
