Angel Biotechnology plans to grow in jvc deal
Agrees to form a jvc with Materia Medica Holding
Angel Biotechnology Holdings, a biopharmaceutical contract manufacturer headquartered near Edinburgh in Scotland, has agreed non-binding Heads of Terms with OOO ‘NPF Materia Medica Holding’ (MMH), to form a joint venture company (jvc) that will be 51% owned by MMH and 49% by Angel.
The jvc will commission new projects and manage their production in a dedicated GMP facility operated by Angel, on behalf of MMH.
Under the proposed joint venture, Angel will increase the size of its GMP facility at Cramlington, Northumberland to provide a new dedicated area for the manufacture of MMH products. It will also include a non-GMP development laboratory for preliminary work.
MMH will fund the cost of this work and provide, through the jvc, funding for capital equipment required for the manufacturing activities. The jvc will retain title to the capital equipment, while Angel will manage, operate and staff the dedicated facility.
MMH will provide the jvc with funds to commission new programmes and the jvc will supply finished product to MMH. Profits made in the jvc will be divided between Angel and MMH in proportion to their shareholdings.
The arrangement will be reviewed after five years and it is understood that MMH will require a minimum of seven products to be manufactured in the first three to five years.
Although the deal has not yet been finalised, MMH has indicated its intention to commission three new programmes under the existing agreement it has with Angel.
Dr Paul Harper, executive chairman of Angel Biotechnology Holdings, said the deal ‘opens a new and important chapter of the continuing growth and development of Angel’.
Professor Oleg Epstein, general director of OOO ‘NPF Materia Medica Holding’, said through the formation of this joint venture company, ‘we expect to move into a secure, long term supply agreement with Angel for the manufacture of advanced biologicals that form the core of our business’.
