US firm acquires Waterford drug facility for €55m

40 EirGen employees will transfer to Horizon with 50 extra staff to be recruited

EirGen Pharma develops and supplies high potency specialty care medicines.

Waterford pharmaceutical firm EirGen is to sell a drug product manufacturing facility to US firm Horizon Therapeutics in a deal worth almost €55m.

As part of the transaction, approximately 40 EirGen employees at the plant will transfer to Horizon following the close of the transaction. Horizon intends to recruit 50 additional staff for the site in 2021 and 2022.

The EirGen facility is located in an IDA Ireland business park and includes a filling line and freeze dryer that can be used for Horizon’s commercial medicines that treat thyroid issues and gout.

Horizon will work with Ireland’s Health Products Regulatory Agency (HPRA) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to obtain licensing for sterile fill-finish manufacturing. It expects the first medicine approved for release in approximately two years. 

Under the terms of the agreement, Horizon will acquire the facility for a $65m (€54.5m) upfront cash payment. In addition, there is adjacent IDA land available for further manufacturing and development expansion. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter.

Horizon’s global headquarters have been in Dublin, Ireland since 2014 and the company is currently fitting out a new, 62,000 square foot headquarters facility at 70 St Stephens Green.

“With the successful Tepezza launch, ongoing Krystexxa growth and the growth of our marketed medicine portfolio and pipeline, it is the right time to add in-house manufacturing capabilities,” said Tim Walbert, chief executive officer, Horizon. 

“Adding to our strong network of contract manufacturing organizations, this facility will also play an important role in our global expansion. We look forward to leveraging our existing technical operations expertise in Ireland, along with the expertise of the EirGen employees, to build a robust and effective manufacturing operation that will enable us to meet the unmet needs of people impacted by rare diseases around the world.”

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said the deal and planned expansion will be a significant benefit to Waterford and the broader South East Region. 

"It’s great to see a company with an established presence expanding its Irish operations in a regional location. It demonstrates Horizon’s commitment to Ireland and will allow the company to avail of the rich talent pool in this sector in the region."

The Horizon acquisition and expansion will add to the growing pharmaceutical cluster in the South East, which to date includes MSD, Teva and Sanofi. "Horizon is one of the next generation of high-growth biotech companies and this substantial investment is another positive development in Ireland’s growing biopharma industry,” said IDA Ireland CEO Martin Shanahan.