More to come
Despite, or even thanks to, the recent turmoil in the world economy, we expect to see more acquisitions of CMC service providers
in the near future. Not only are there clear rationales for making acquisitions of CMC companies, but there also seems to
be plenty of resources available to do them. Many private-equity firms are capable of financing these deals, and they especially
like the opportunity to consolidate highly fragmented industries, such as CMC development and manufacturing services. Banks
in North America, even some European banks, are eager to help fund these deals in an environment where overall loan demand
is depressed.
The CMC services industry, especially contract manufacturing, will benefit from having a core of large global companies capable
of serving global bio/pharmaceutical companies. Catalent, which was assembled through acquisitions, has already topped the
$1 billion mark, and Patheon has gotten there with the Banner acquisition. Aenova and Aesica, both based in Europe, have
stated their intention of getting to the $1 billion mark, and Aenova is more than halfway there after its Temmler acquisition.
Acquisitions will continue to reshape the CMC services industry, and they are a sign that the industry is reaching a new level
of maturity.
Jim Miller is president of PharmSource Information Services, Inc., and publisher of Bio/Pharmaceutical Outsourcing Report, tel. 703.383.4903, Twitter@JimPharmSource, info@pharmsource.com
,
http://www.pharmsource.com/.
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