Hikma, a London-based generics maker, has agreed to buy parts of Xellia’s assets in the U.S., including the Danish drugmaker’s manufacturing facility in Cleveland.
Hikma will pay $135 million in cash with an additional $50 million going to Xellia based on contingencies, the company said in a June 17 press release. The deal is subject to approval from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
Under terms of the transaction, Hikma gets the Cleveland facility that features end-to-end capabilities to develop, manufacture, pack and distribute lyophilized vials and aseptically filled ready-to-use IV bag products.
The generic drugmaker revealed plans to invest an undisclosed amount into the facility to boost productivity by adding automation, equipment and updated processes. Hikma aims to complete the upgrades at the plant within the next three years.
The facility could be used to establish an entry into the CDMO business in the future, the company said.
“Hikma has grown to become a top-three U.S. supplier of sterile injectable medicines thanks to our strong record of successfully making value-enhancing acquisitions like this one,” Riad Mishlawi, Hikma’s chief executive, said in the release. “This acquisition will add significant scale to our U.S. operations and will enhance our U.S. injectable manufacturing capabilities and portfolio by adding complex technologies.”
Hikma also gets a range of ready-to-use products from Xellia, including Vanco Ready (vancomycin) used to treat bacterial infections like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
Additionally, it picks up an R&D facility and its staff located in Zagreb, Croatia, with the deal.
In 2022, Hikma entered the Canadian market with the $45.75 million purchase of assets of Taligent, which was under bankruptcy. That deal included 25 sterile injectable products, three in-licensed ophthalmic products and seven other products (four of them approved by Health Canada) that were in Teligent’s pipeline at the time.