Saneca buys Europe's only independent, US FDA approved Beta-lactams plant

By Gareth Macdonald

- Last updated on GMT

Saneca's new Ireland formulations facility
Saneca's new Ireland formulations facility

Related tags Pharmacology

API firm Saneca Pharmaceuticals has acquired struggling drug formulator Suir Pharma Ireland in a deal with former owner Mutares AG.

The acquisition – financial terms of which were not provided – saw Slovakian drugmaker Saneca buy Suir outright.

The deal is designed to add Suir’s capabilities in the production of finished oral dosage forms and Beta-Lactam antibiotics to Saneca’s existing active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and contract manufacturing operations.

Saneca spokesman Lubo Soltys said Suir will provide “enhanced pharmaceutical development capacity and tech transfer capabilities across a range of Pharmaceutical forms which will certainly provide easier access to various markets to our worldwide customer base​.”

Clonmel, Ireland-headquartered Suir claims it operates the only Independent Beta-Lactam production facility in Europe that is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

According to publicly available information, Suir’s US customers include New Jersey-based Dava Pharmaceuticals​, for which it produces penicillin using APIs supplied by Sandoz.

Special situations

Suir was previously owned by Germany’s STADA. Mutares, a self-styled acquirer of companies in “special situations” bought the firm in 2012, which is the last year in which it recorded a profit according to reports in the Irish media​.

In the years since Suir appears to have struggled.

In May 2014, Ireland’s Labour Court backed management proposals to cut employee pay and working hours​ in the face of mounting losses.

According to the Court document Suir executives predicted that the firm would lose more than €1.8m last year and said savings in the region of €1.1m would be needed in 2015 in "order to remain trading​."

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