The Ponders End site is a high-tech manufacturing facility located in Enfield, North London. It has potent compound and bulk manufacturing facilities producing a number of MSD's products. The plant has a capacity to produce 300 tons of products per year. Under the agreement, 74 employees currently working at the site will transfer their employment from MSD to Aesica immediately.
Dr Robert Hardy, CEO of Aesica, said: "We are delighted to have completed the purchase of the Ponders End facility. Through the acquisition, we gain a significant increase in our manufacturing capacity and capabilities, as well as a highly valued new client via the supply agreement with Merck. We are an ambitious company and buying Ponders End is an important part of our strategy to build on our leading position in the supply of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) through the acquisition of products and facilities, and through growing our custom synthesis business. We are looking forward to establishing a positive relationship with the community as we grow our business at Ponders End."
The sale of the site is part of Merck's global restructuring of its manufacturing operations (announced November 2005) to create a global manufacturing network that is better aligned to Merck's current and anticipated future product demand.
Mike Lewis, site head for the MSD facility at Ponders End added: "This agreement meets the strategic objectives of both companies and, importantly, preserves employment for the current workforce who have shown such commitment over the years. With a history of excellence in chemical manufacturing and with a complement of highly skilled employees, we look forward to Aesica running a very successful operation at Ponders End."
About Aesica
Aesica is a leading supplier of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and custom synthesis to the global pharmaceutical industry. The company's customers include top ten pharmaceutical companies, leading generics manufacturers and emerging pharmaceutical companies across the major pharmaceutical markets: Japan, Europe and North America. Aesica has a well balanced business model working in traditional fee-for-service agreements and also through strategic co-development partnerships with emerging companies. Aesica's ambitious growth strategy is based on the acquisition of products and facilities and through further expansion of its custom synthesis business. Aesica was formed as the result of a management buyout from the global chemical company BASF in 2004 and has its headquarters in Cramlington, Northumberland, UK, where its 90-acre site has been a centre for pharmaceutical manufacturing since the 1980s.
About Merck Sharp & Dohme
Merck Sharp & Dohme Limited (MSD) is the UK subsidiary of Merck & Co. Inc., of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, USA, a leading research-based pharmaceutical company that discovers develops, manufactures and markets a wide range of innovative products to improve human health.
Source: Aesica
