Actavis buys packager to boost manufacturing efficiencies
pharmafile | December 6, 2011 | News story | Manufacturing and Production |Â Â Actavis, pharmapackÂ
Generic drugmaker Actavis has acquired Netherlands-based company PharmaPack International in a bid to cut its lead times for packaging and reduce freighting costs.
Actavis buys a considerable number of bulk pharmaceuticals from third-party manufacturers, and the time taken to package these products to make them ready for sale is currently far too long, according to the company’s chairman and chief executive Claudio Albrecht.
“The lead times are sometimes between six and nine months”, he said. “With the acquisition of PharmaPack International we are able to reduce these … by more than 50%”.
Earlier this year, Albrecht said Actavis was looking at various acquisitions in order to expand into new territories such as eastern and southern Europe and Turkey, while further down the line it would consider a initial public offering (IPO), a sale or a tie-up with another company.
One of its key objectives is to boost its efficiencies and profitability in order to get the best possible value from such a deal, which could take place as early as 2013.
Along with a reduction in the number of manufacturing plants from 19 to 14 in recent months, the PharmaPack acquisition could help the company move closer to its efficiency goals, by reducing idle inventory and allowing it to bring product to market more quickly.
“This acquisition gives Actavis much greater flexibility in tender markets and allows for minimum order quantities for smaller markets,” said Albrecht.
PharmaPack is a specialist in packaging pharmaceutical as well as biotechnological products and operates 10 blister packaging lines, as well as lines for bottles and other containers.
One of the Dutch company’s future roles will be the bulk packaging of pharmaceuticals produced in the Actavis facility in Alathur, India, while another advantage of this packaging centre will be a significant reduction in freight costs.
The Dutch company’s owner Gerard Stevers said that Actavis has ambitious growth plans and would need more capacity for their packing processes, which could come from an expansion of PharmaPack’s facility in Zoetermeer.
Phil Taylor
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