Actavis acquires Dutch company PharmaPack International

Actavis Group, the international generic pharmaceuticals company, has acquired 100% of the shares in PharmaPack International B.V. for an undisclosed amount. PharmaPack is based in Zoetermeer, the Netherlands, and is a specialist in packaging pharmaceutical as well as biotechnological products. The company has extensive experience with product, organisational and country-specific packaging requirements and has been involved in the pharmaceutical service industry for almost 30 years.

CEO Claudio Albrecht: “This brings us more flexibility and has a very positive cost impact for Actavis”

"I have known this professional company for a long time and I am very proud that the owners decided to choose Actavis as their new partner. It is obvious that they had other opportunities as well" said Actavis CEO and Chairman Claudio Albrecht. “This acquisition gives Actavis much greater flexibility in tender markets and allows for minimum order quantities for smaller markets.”

Actavis buys a considerable amount of tablets from third-party manufacturers. "The lead times are sometimes between six and nine months and therefore much too long. With the acquisition of PharmaPack International we are able to reduce these lead times by more than 50 per cent,” added Albrecht. One of the Dutch company’s future roles will be the bulk packaging of pharmaceuticals produced in the Actavis facility in Alathur (India). Another advantage of this packaging centre will be a significant reduction in freight costs. In summary, PharmaPack International will increase the Group’s cost competitiveness and have a very positive impact on Actavis’ working capital.

Gerard Stevers, Director and owner of PharmaPack International, said he is convinced that the important and well-considered decision to sell the company will secure the future of the employees of PharmaPack. "PharmaPack will benefit from the global organisation of Actavis and have a great opportunity to grow within this international group" He added that Actavis has very dynamic growth plans for the future and this expansion will have very positive effects for PharmaPack. "Actavis will need even more capacity for their packing processes and are thinking about expanding this facility"

About Actavis Group:
Actavis is the world’s fourth largest generic pharmaceutical company. It specialises in the development, manufacture and sale of generic pharmaceuticals. The Company has operations in more than 40 countries, with over 10,000 employees. Actavis operates 14 manufacturing sites in 12 different countries with a total manufacturing capacity of 24 billion tablets/capsules per annum.

About PharmaPack International:
PharmaPack International has been involved in the pharmaceutical service industry for almost 30 years. In 1983, the company started out as a pharmaceutical contract packager in Rijswijk, the Netherlands. Thanks to their efficient production process, good price-quality ratio and great delivery performance, PharmaPack international developed into one of the largest pharmaceutical packers in Europe, as well as a market leader in the Netherlands. In 1998, successful growth necessitated a move to larger premises in Zoetermeer, where the company is able to provide optimum service in a well-equipped business environment. PharmaPack supports its customers by means of the "one-stop shopping" principle, offering a complete solution – from bulk sampling and storage, to the sourcing of packaging materials and release of end products for transport.

PharmaPack’s services in brief:
• Primary packaging: blisters, containers, hospital packages (unit dose), buckets, bulk packaging, deblistering
• Secondary packaging: vials, inhalers, kitting, manual packaging, repackaging, labelling
• Purchase of all necessary packaging components
• Bulk sampling and quarantine storage
• Packaging and storage of opiates class 1 and 2
• Climate controlled storage and worldwide distribution
• Packaging for clinical trial
• Complete (cold) supply chain solutions
• Secondary packaging of cytostatics and (anti-)hormones