New Jersey-based Catalent said the purchase will strengthen its capabilities in integrated oral solid formulation development, manufacturing and packaging to help customers simplify and accelerate their programs, while also expanding its own capacity to handle highly potent compounds.

The acquisition is expected to close before the end of this calendar year, subject to customary closing conditions, and Catalent will take over Metrics’ entire team of over 400 employees. The CDMO said it will pay the purchase price for the all-cash acquisition using a combination of cash on hand, existing credit facilities and, depending on market conditions, potentially new debt financing.

Mayne Pharma and Catalent have also agreed on the terms of a long-term supply agreement in which the Greenville facility will continue to manufacture multiple Mayne Pharma products.

Metrics’ facility has 16 manufacturing suites, with 11 designed to handle highly potent compounds, as well as two packaging lines that have annual production capacity exceeding 1 billion oral solid dose units.

With a large variety of development and commercial supply programs, Catalent said the company it is acquiring has comprehensive capabilities to accelerate and de-risk customer programs from early development through commercial launch through a streamlined one-site solution.

Aris Gennadios, group president of Catalent’s Pharma & Consumer Health segment, said the deal will further expand his company’s ability to meet customers’ expectations in fast-growing areas of the business and patient need. From Greenville it will be able provide customers with immediate, fit-for-scale capacity for in-demand highly potent drugs and other oral solid small-to-mid-size batch needs.

“This capacity is particularly important for customers with R&D pipelines featuring accelerated, orphan, and rare disease programs for oncology and other important therapeutic areas,” Gennadios added.

Catalent said the new facility will seamlessly integrate into its oral development and manufacturing network, which includes flagship sites for large-scale and controlled release oral solids manufacturing in Winchester, Kentucky, as well as softgel development and manufacturing in St. Petersburg, Florida. Metrics has additional facilities with bioavailability enhancement technologies and complex oral solids manufacturing platforms.

Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist