The Netherlands-domiciled contractor announced the investment today, explaining it will add spray drying capacity at its plant in Florence, South Carolina, serialization tech at its Greenville, North Carolina site and expand its facility in Bend, Oregon.
Patheon also said it will build a new sterile product manufacturing facility in Monza, Italy and increase capacity at an existing plant at the site.
The new capabilities and plants – which are due to become operational in 2019 – are intended to cater for growing pharmaceutical industry demand for cost efficient and reliable supply chains according to Patheon president, Michel Lagarde.
“With the increasing marketplace pressures, pharma companies are looking to build more reliable, flexible and cost-efficient supply chains” he said.
News of the investment follows a month after Patheon announced it is due to me acquired by Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. for $7.2bn.
At the time Thermo Fisher cited the contractor’s small and large molecule contract manufacturing capacity, network of production plants and 9,000 staff as the driver for the deal.
Analysts including Evercore ISI’s Ross Muken highlighted the breadth of Patheon’s offering as a likely motivating factor for Thermo.
He said “Thermo brings unique relationships and market share at major BioPharma and Emerging Pharma which should synergize Patheon’s one stop shop approach.”
See how the deal will impact Thermo here.