Sterling Pharma Solutions Expands Global API Manufacturing Capabilities with Acquisition of Novartis Facility in Ringaskiddy, Ireland

Posted: 2 Mar 2022

London, UK – Global Healthcare Opportunities, or GHO Capital Partners LLP, the European specialist investor in global healthcare, acknowledges the announcement from its portfolio company Sterling Pharma Solutions, regarding the acquisition of a Novartis facility in Ringaskiddy, Ireland.

Sterling Pharma Solutions, a global contract development and manufacturing organisation, today announced that it had reached an agreement with Novartis to acquire its Ringaskiddy campus (Novartis Ringaskiddy Limited), near Cork, Ireland. Financial details of the sale, which is expected to close in Q4, 2022, have not been disclosed.

Under the terms of the agreement, Sterling will acquire the 111-acre site, which includes three active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing buildings, as well as facilities to support development and scale up in line with Sterling’s core business focus. The site currently manufactures a number of APIs across a range of therapeutic areas, and the deal includes an ongoing supply agreement between Sterling and Novartis from the Ringaskiddy facility. Upon closing, the workforce will transition to Sterling.

Sterling’s Chief Executive Officer, Kevin Cook, said: “The addition of this new, world-class facility and its highly skilled workforce, with its history of quality and regulatory excellence, to Sterling’s portfolio, will enable us to provide expanded capacity to our customers. The site at Ringaskiddy has a number of synergies with our current global facilities enabling us to continue our growth strategy in the small molecule market, as well as extending our capabilities in several key technological areas such as peptide manufacturing and large-scale chromatography.”

This announcement follows several investments in Sterling’s manufacturing capabilities in 2021, as well as the acquisition of its Germantown site in Wisconsin from Alcami in 2020, and a dedicated antibody-drug conjugate facility in Deeside, UK in 2021.

The addition of the Ringaskiddy campus will see Sterling’s global network grow to five facilities across the UK, Europe and the US, with a workforce of over 1,000 employees.

About GHO Capital
Global Healthcare Opportunities, or GHO Capital Partners LLP, is a leading specialist healthcare investment advisor based in London. We apply global capabilities and perspectives to unlock high growth healthcare opportunities, targeting Pan-European and transatlantic internationalisation to build market leading businesses of strategic global value. Our proven investment track record reflects the unrivalled depth of our industry expertise and network. We partner with strong management teams to generate long-term sustainable value, improving the efficiency of healthcare delivery to enable better, faster, more accessible healthcare. For further information, please visit www.ghocapital.com.

About Sterling Pharma Solutions
Sterling Pharma Solutions is a global contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) with more than 50 years’ experience in providing small molecule API development and manufacturing services to the pharmaceutical industry, specialising in handling challenging chemistries. Sterling manages the most complex API challenges from proof-of-concept to commercial manufacture, as well as antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) research and development bioconjugation services.
Sterling has four facilities employing more than 850 people: its HQ in Dudley, Northumberland, UK; a dedicated ADC bioconjugation facility in Deeside, North Wales, UK; and two sites in the US, in Cary, North Carolina and Germantown, Wisconsin. For more information visit www.sterlingpharmasolutions.com.