Posted on 7 months ago by Laurentina Kennedy
Alkermes to sell Athlone plant to Novo Nordisk for $92.5m
Irish based pharma company Alkermes is to sell its research and development and manufacturing plant in Athlone to Novo Nordisk for $92.5m.
As part of the plan, 400 staff employed by Alkermes at the Westmeath facility will transfer across to the Danish headquartered healthcare firm.
It is expected that the deal will close in the middle of next year.
The move is part of Alkermes' plan to become a pure-play neuroscience company, which is resulting in it realigning its infrastructure and cost structure.
"Upon closing, we expect this transaction to drive operational efficiencies and enhance profitability over the long term," said Richard Pops, Chief Executive Officer of Alkermes.
"I am particularly pleased to enter this agreement with Novo Nordisk as it offers our employees at this world-class, state-of-the-art GMP manufacturing facility in Athlone an exciting opportunity for growth."
The two companies also plan to agree a subcontracting deal that would see certain work currently done in the midlands plant continue up to the end of 2025.
"The acquisition of the Athlone facility represents an expansion of Novo Nordisk’s global manufacturing setup and will provide Novo Nordisk with additional development and manufacturing capacity for current and future oral products," said Thilde G. Hummel Bøgebjerg, Senior Vice President, Product Supply Emerging Technologies, Novo Nordisk.
With its headquarters in Dublin Alkermes also has a research and development centre in Waltham, Massachusetts and a manufacturing facility in Wilmington, Ohio, alongside the Athlone plant.
It makes a range of products for the treatment of conditions such as alcohol an opioid dependence, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
It also has a pipeline of potential drugs in development for neurological disorders.