Adragos Pharma is a German pharmaceutical Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO), which has recently acquired Sanofi’s 50-year-old manufacturing plant in Kawagoe, Japan. The plant is located fairly close to the country’s capital- Tokyo.
Through this acquisition, the company plans to expand its production network and this facility will be Adragos’ second one in Japan, adding the company to the list of the Top 3 largest CDMOs in Japan. Apart from the two facilities in Japan, the company also runs operations in Livron, France, and Leipzig, Germany. The former plant manufactures and packs sterile liquids and suppositories and the latter specializes in the production of semi-solids and the packaging of solids.
The new facility in Kawagoe will give the company production capabilities in both categories in one site. Adragos Pharma considers Japan one of its 3 core markets.
Apart from having a history of more than 50 years of pharmaceuticals, the new plant covers over 50 acres of land and was used to produce 73 of Sanofi’s products. In addition, all of Sanofi products in Japan were delivered through this plant. There is room for improvement when it comes to expanding the site’s manufacturing capacity, which Adragos plans to do.
This will ultimately introduce new customers from North America, Europe, and the domestic Japanese market and further the company’s agenda to provide high-quality and affordable medicine to all consumers. Under Sanofi, the site was limited to packing, visual inspection, and retesting services as well as certain manufacturing processes. Most of the company’s market was also limited to only Japan and other parts of Asia.
Although the financial terms of the agreement have not been made public, it is expected that Sanofi will hand over the reins of the plant by the beginning of 2023. The business will be transferred through a long-term supply agreement of 5 years, which has been signed between the companies whereby Adragos will continue to manufacture Sanofi products and eventually becomes a strategic partner for Sanofi in the Japanese market.
It was also decided that Adragos will retain the 200 Sanofi employees working at Kawagoe, and CTO at Adragos Pharma, Marco Gorgas shared his deep satisfaction with the staff by sharing how impressed he was with their skill.
“This acquisition will take Adragos a step closer to becoming a leading CDMO in the world,” said Adragos CEO, Dr. Andreas Raabe,” Despite the fact Japan is one of the most sought-after pharma markets, there has not been much development in the CDMO industry.”
Even Sanofi struggled with growing roots in Japan. According to the company’s annual report, in Japan, Sanofi had less than 2% market share and in its 2021 revenue, it ranked number 19 in the country. It has also been reported that the 2021 sales in Japan only contributed 4.4% to Sanofi’s overall sales.
As such, the International Cluster Head, of Industrial Affairs for Sanofi, Jeremy Goldnade stated that he is excited to turn this new chapter in Japan. Not only will this deal develop the manufacturing site but also help provide the best possible products to patients.
