The tendency for large pharmaceutical companies to acquire smaller ones and for other players to work alongside more niche biotechnology firms continues, with three new activities announced this week.
The drivers for these activities are complex. However, some general factors are shareholder pressure, low interest rates and the quest for revenue growth, each of which seem to be triggering the current wave of pharmaceutical mergers and acquisitions.
First up, Lubrizol Corporation announced it has acquired Particle Sciences, a small contract drug development and production firm. Particle Sciences is located in Bethlehem, Philadelphia, U.S. The reason Lubrizol was keen to acquire Particle Sciences was for its expertise in drug formulation development. The acquisition adds to another recent Lubrizol gain where it acquired the pharmaceutical company Vesta.
Discussing the strategy with Pharmaceutical Processing, Deb Langer, vice president and general manager, Lubrizol LifeSciences, said: “With the addition of Particle Sciences and the recent acquisition of Vesta, we are now able to offer customers a complete solution that is one of the most comprehensive in the industry.”
Lubrizol makes ingredients and additives for personal care products and pharmaceuticals, as well as specialty materials such as plastics technology. The new acquisitions see the company extend itself considerably in the pharma sector.
Second, Purdue Pharma has acquired from VM Pharma a potential treatment of chronic pain. The compound is called allosteric selective tropomyosin receptor kinase A (TrkA) inhibitor. This is described as “a new and attractive therapeutic approach to address pain symptoms.” A formulation of the compound has recently completed Phase I clinical trials.
The third item of news is that Siemens and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) have entered a global strategic partnership. Siemens will provide operational support for many items of equipment at each of GSK’s manufacturing centers. The partnership is said to deliver “process control, equipment control and building management systems.” Siemens will also be involved with GSK’s research and development operations.
