The acquisition of Pharmaceutical Packaging Professionals (PPP) will allow PCI Pharma Services (PCI) to offer earlier stage outsourcing services to its customers conducting trials in the region.
PCI plans to establish PPP’s Melbourne, Victoria offices as its regional headquarters for Asia Pacific, led by the founder of PPP and current Senior VP for PCI Asia Pacific, Craig Rogers.
Australia is a preferred destination for conducting Phase I clinical studies and this acquisition allows PCI to provide new services in early phase clinical sterile and non-sterile drug manufacture and establishes a PCI depot to serve the Asia Pacific market.
PPP’s logistical services include storage capability across a range of temperature conditions including controlled room temperature, 2-8˚C, -20˚C and -80˚C environments, which expands PCI’s existing capabilities in storing, packaging and shipping cold chain products.
Given the considerable growth in Phase I study activity in Australia and Asia Pacific countries, PPP is currently undertaking a facility expansion and upgrade to add additional storage and distribution services, labelling and packaging rooms, Grade D manufacturing capabilities and sterile fill manufacturing for Phase II clinical studies.
PCI envisions supporting additional expansion given the anticipated growth from existing and new customers conducting clinical trials in the region.
Bill Mitchell, President and CEO of PCI Pharma Services, said: “As a leading outsourced services partner, we look for ways to better support our customers in markets where they do business."
"Asia Pacific, including Australia, has become an important region for clinical trials and we are focused on building upon PPP’s successes to continue to support our customers’ needs throughout the drug development lifecycle. PCI is investing to be the partner of choice for our clients as they grow, evolve and access new markets around the world."
The addition of PPP marks PCI’s fifth company acquisition across a five-year period. In October 2017, PCI acquired Dublin-based Millmount Healthcare, broadening its geographic presence in the European Union and complementing its service network in the UK.
PCI’s growth has been driven by both strategic acquisitions and capacity expansion within its existing state-of-the-art supply network.
Business demand and market opportunities have led to facility footprint expansion in both its manufacturing and clinical trial supply businesses, as well as in Cold Chain and Ultra Cold Chain infrastructure, with the addition of refrigerated storage as well as frozen and cryogenic storage.
PCI’s Clinical business has expertise in supporting mid-size and emerging biopharma companies and expects to continue this focus in the APAC region.
PCI has also invested in its commercial packaging business through the addition of new packaging lines, along with capital investment in its market leading serialisation and anticounterfeiting technologies and has tripled its capacity to more than 80 lines in total across its global supply network.
PCI’s investments will support new capacity and capability for drug development across its global supply network.
