The Challenge

Following the completion of its acquisitions of both Warner Lambert and Pharmacia, Pfizer Inc. concluded that its manufacturing facilities in Morpeth, UK, were no longer required in its plant network.  Pfizer retained PharmaBioSource to serve as consultants and brokers to assist in the divestiture of the Morpeth operations.

At the time of PharmaBioSource’s engagement to support the divestiture (2005), the facility had been in operation for over 35 years and had grown to be a large and complex operation.  Located on a land parcel of 50 acres, the facility was comprised of manufacturing units for both API and finished oral dosage forms with specialized facilities for both controlled substances and hormones.  In addition, extensive laboratory facilities and an integrated distribution facility were also in place on the Morpeth campus.  As such, the site was well-suited to become a stand-alone facility.

More specifically, at the time of sale, the Morpeth facility possessed the following capabilities:

• Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API): Four independent chemical plant buildings specializing in the manufacture of active ingredients used in the finished dosage forms of products made in Morpeth.
• Pharmaceutical: Three operating areas manufacturing solid dosage form products, predominantly tablets with a small amount of capsule manufacturing capability.
• Packaging: Producing predominately integrated blister packaging, with some limited bottle packing capability.
• Warehousing and Distribution: Servicing the requirements of over 100 global markets.

At the time of the sale of the Morpeth operations, the site was projected to employ approximately 450 colleagues in the first year under new ownership and was projected to generate trailing supply agreement revenues of approximately £16M through sales of product to Pfizer in the first full year after the completion of the transaction, based on those supply agreements for a number of important products with durations ranging from three to six years.

The Solution

To help achieve its goal of divesting the Morpeth operations, Pfizer engaged PharmaBioSource, working in close coordination with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), in the development of the marketing strategy, a target list of prospective buyers and an assessment of the type of value proposition that would attract interest from the types of companies that Pfizer was seeking as potential buyers.

PharmaBioSource utilized its extensive experience in consulting and advisory services to partner with Pfizer and PwC, with the outcome being the successful sale of the facility to Nicholas Piramal India Ltd. (NPIL), now Piramal Group, a respected Indian generic drug manufacturer.

Services provided by the PharmaBioSource team:

• Business and Site Assessments
• Benchmarking
• Value Proposition Creation
• Prep for Sale
• Prepared Non-confidential marketing collateral
• Target Identification and Marketing
• Assisted in preparation of Confidential Information Memorandum (CIM)
• Market engagement
• Due Diligence support

The Results

In less than one year, Pfizer was able to complete the transaction with a company that was committed to the future success of the site, its employees and the community and one that provided Pfizer with the necessary level of comfort that its trailing supply needs would be fulfilled in a high quality, timely and cost-effective manner.