Asahi Glass Co. (AGC; Tokyo; www.agc.com) has entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of CMC Biologics, a world-leading biologics Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (“API”) manufacturer with major investors including Monitor Clipper Partners and European Equity Partners, for a purchase price of approximately 60 billion Japanese yen (around $500 million). The agreement remains subject to approval from the relevant antitrust authority, and the acquisition is expected to be completed in January 2017.
CMC is a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO), offering biological API manufacturing service with mammalian and microbial hosts. The company provides high value-added cell line construction, process development, scale-up and manufacturing of API used in drug development (pre-clinical and clinical trials) and in commercially marketed biopharmaceutical drugs. With approximately 530 employees, CMC operates on a global scale with production facilities in Denmark (Copenhagen) and the U.S. (Seattle and Berkeley).
David Kauffmann, Chairman of CMC Biologics said “I am excited by CMC Biologics becoming part of AGC a world-class company committed to excellence and high customer satisfaction. AGC’s dedication to best technology solutions and long-time partnership with clients align so well with CMC Biologics’ quest to be the preferred biologics CDMO service partner for the world’s top pharmaceutical and biotech companies”
“We are honored to become part of AGC, a successful global company with a long term business strategy and resources to be the ideal owner of CMC Biologics. The CMC management team look forward to becoming one team with AGC, to bring and combine broad, as well as focused innovative solutions to our clients said Gustavo Mahler, President & Chief Executive Officer of CMC Biologics and added, “With this transaction, I am confident that our clients will receive even further benefits from our combined high level of expertise, years of experience, and global offerings.”
AGC has been engaged in contract manufacturing business since the early 2000s. Its acquisition of CMC is part of AGC’s strategy to expand its biologics CDMO operations, complementing AGC’s current operations in Japan and Europe. The business integration with CMC will enable AGC to offer world-leading biologics CDMO API services, with a host of best-in-class technologies and manufacturing solutions by both mammalian and microbial operations for its global customer base.