Pharmaron Beijing has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Allergan Biologics Limited (ABL) in Liverpool, UK, for $118.7 million from AbbVie. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

The ABL site consists of a state-of-the-art, flexible cGMP biomanufacturing facility located in Liverpool with over 150 staff. Leveraging the industry-leading expertise in the process R&D, cGMP manufacturing and advanced analytical capabilities in broad range of biologics products, the ABL site has further established a solid foundation and expertise in cell and gene therapy (CGT) product development using a suspension system for manufacturing up to commercial scale. The ABL site has held MHRA biologic manufacturing license accreditation since 2007.

This transaction will be highly synergistic to Pharmaron’s recent acquisition of Absorption Systems in the U.S. for building an integrated CGT services platform. This integrated platform, which offers preclinical research, product development, and commercial manufacturing services for CGT products, provides unparalleled value proposition to our partners in this rapidly growing field of innovative therapies.

“We are pleased to have the ABL site join the Pharmaron Group,” said Boliang Lou, chairman and chief executive officer, Pharmaron. “We have been impressed with the CGT focused process R&D and complex biologic manufacturing capabilities of the ABL site, as well as the abilities that the highly experienced scientific, technical and managerial teams have demonstrated.

“The addition of this platform to Pharmaron will further strengthen our CGT services platform and allow us to better serve our partners’ needs in these exciting and emerging therapies.”