Pharmaron Acquires State-of-the-Art Biomanufacturing Site in the United Kingdom from AbbVie

Continues to build integrated capabilities platform for Cell & Gene Therapy

BEIJING--(BUSINESS WIRE)--#biomanufaturing--Pharmaron Beijing Co., Limited (Stock Code: 300759.SZ/3759.HK) (“Pharmaron”) announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Allergan Biologics Limited (“The ABL site”) in Liverpool, UK, for US$118.7 million in cash from AbbVie. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

The ABL site consists of a state-of-the-art, flexible cGMP biomanufacturing facility located in Liverpool, United Kingdom with over 150 staff. Leveraging the industry-leading expertise in the process R&D, cGMP manufacturing and advanced analytical capabilities in broad range of biologics products, the ABL site has further established a solid foundation and expertise in Cell and Gene Therapy (“CGT”) product development using a suspension system for manufacturing up to commercial scale. The ABL site has held MHRA biologic manufacturing license accreditation since 2007.

This transaction will be highly synergistic to Pharmaron’s recent acquisition of Absorption Systems in the US for building an integrated CGT services platform. This integrated platform, which offers preclinical research, product development, and commercial manufacturing services for CGT products, provides unparalleled value proposition to our partners in this rapidly growing field of innovative therapies.

Dr. Boliang Lou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pharmaron, commented, “We are pleased to have the ABL site join the Pharmaron Group. We have been impressed with the CGT focused process R&D and complex biologic manufacturing capabilities of the ABL site, as well as the abilities that the highly experienced scientific, technical and managerial teams have demonstrated. The addition of this platform to Pharmaron will further strengthen our CGT services platform and allow us to better serve our partners’ needs in these exciting and emerging therapies. We are committed to further expanding capabilities and capacities at the Liverpool site to meet growing unmet demand. This transaction demonstrates our commitment to becoming a global leader in drug R&D services across multiple therapeutic modalities.”

Goetzpartners securities acted as exclusive financial adviser to Pharmaron, and O’Melveny acted as legal counsel.

About Pharmaron

Pharmaron (Stock Code: 300759.SZ/3759.HK) is a premier R&D service provider for the life sciences industry. Founded in 2004, Pharmaron has invested in its people and facilities, and established a broad spectrum of R&D service capabilities ranging from synthetic and medicinal chemistry, biology, DMPK, pharmacology, safety assessment, radiochemistry and radiolabelled metabolism, clinical pharmacology, clinical analytical sciences, clinical CRO and SMO, to chemical & pharmaceutical development. With over 11,000 employees, and operations in China, the United States, and the United Kingdom, Pharmaron has an excellent track record in the delivery of R&D solutions to its partners in North America, Europe, Japan and China. www.pharmaron.com

Ashok Tehim, Senior VP, Strategy, Tel: +1 201 312 5754, ashok.tehim@pharmaron.com