Malin invests a further €34.5m in Altan Pharma

Malin, the life sciences- focused investment vehicle, run by former Elan executives, has announced a €34.5m investment in Altan Pharma, its second major investment in as many days.

Earlier this week, Malin — which recently raised €330m from its IPO on the secondary market of the Irish Stock Exchange — announced a $35m (€31m) initial investment in US drug development firm, Melinta Therapeutics, with the commitment in place for a further $10m investment over the coming 12 months.

While the Melinta deal sees Malin take an initial minority stake in the firm, yesterday’s Altan announcement covers a controlling 65% shareholding.

Malin’s chairman John Given said it offers the company “significant exposure” to the fast-growing injectable drug market, which is benefiting from the increasing demand for generic drug brands.

“Altan is Malin’s third Irish operating asset, and we look forward to building out the company from its Irish base,” he said.

Altan is a privately-owned Irish-headquartered speciality pharmaceutical firm, run by former Abbott Laboratories figures. It has recently acquired GES, a group of privately-owned Spanish injectable drug companies, for €87.5m. That deal is viewed as being strong for both it and Malin, as it strengthens their presence in the generic pain and anti-infective segments of the injectable drug market in southern Europe, primarily Spain.

Altan is also committed to expanding its existing drug portfolio, via both organic development and acquisition of additional products and technologies.