Avecia sells its pharma business unit to Nicholas Piramal of India
Specialty chemicals company Avecia, which operates out of the UK and US, is selling its pharmaceutical custom synthesis business to one of India\'s largest pharmaceutical companies, Nicholas Piramal India, for
Specialty chemicals company Avecia, which operates out of the UK and US, is selling its pharmaceutical custom synthesis business to one of India's largest pharmaceutical companies, Nicholas Piramal India, for £9.5m.
The sale includes all Avecia Pharmaceuticals' assets and operations at its principal UK site in Huddersfield, a large-scale fermentation asset at Billingham, a High Potency Substance (HPS) facility at Grangemouth in Scotland and its North American operation, Torcan Chemicals in Aurora, Canada. All 350 Avecia Pharmaceuticals' employees are included in the transaction.
The transaction, which will fund the business' UK pension fund deficit of between £8 - 9m, is subject to regulatory and other conditions.
The business achieved sales of £36m in 2004 through the provision of process development and custom synthesis services. Torcan Chemical, in Canada, offers full API services for clinical trials and manufactures commercial APIs. The Early Phase Delivery Team and Pharma Products units in the UK, manufacture intermediates and APIs for clinical trials with scale up manufacturing capabilities for launched drugs.
David Killworth, vice-president of Avecia Pharmaceuticals said: 'This transaction brings together the strengths of Indian and Western operations to provide a total lifecycle solution, which addresses the changing requirements of the global pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors'.
