Reykjavik, Iceland, 18 January 2008 -- Actavis Group, the international generic pharmaceuticals company, has signed an agreement with Pfizer to acquire a manufacturing site specialising in the production of oncology products. The site, which covers an area of 300,000 square metres, is located in the township of Nerviano, approximately 30km from Milan, and employs around 340 permanent staff.
Separately, Actavis has entered into a multi-year exclusive agreement with Pfizer for the supply of oncology products.
The Nerviano site was originally developed and founded by Farmitalia in 1965. It is approved by the US Food and drug administration (FDA), European Union (EU) and Japanese regulatory authorities, and has broad manufacturing capabilities serving 70 markets around the world.
Commenting, Robert Wessman, CEO and President of Actavis said:
"This transaction will enable us to meet the exciting growth projections we see for our oncology product portfolio over the coming years. The site is truly world-class, with outstanding facilities and a highly skilled and experienced workforce, and has a proven track record as a supplier of high quality products over many years. Most importantly, there is significant capacity to support our future plans, together with space for new investment in complementary development and manufacturing activities."
Actavis plans to develop new products and transfer existing products into Nerviano over the coming years and the site will work very closely with Actavis' Bucharest operation which also develops and manufactures oncology products.
The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of January 2008 subject to clearance by Italian competition authorities and consultation with trade unions.
About Actavis Group
Actavis is one of the world's leading generic pharmaceutical companies specializing in the development, manufacture and sale of generic pharmaceuticals. Based in Iceland, the company has operations in 40 countries, with 11,000 employees.
Actavis now has 21 manufacturing sites in 14 countries; Italy, US, UK, Malta, Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia, Russia, Romania, China, India, Indonesia, Iceland, Norway. The Maltese operation alone boasts a workforce of no less than 480 highly skilled employees.