Elaiapharm Buys GW Production Unit

Glaxo Wellcome is selling the former Wellcome drug production unit atSophia-Antipolis in the south of France to Elaiapharm, a new company set up this month by UK venture capital company 3i and Melieres Conseil International, which specializes in marketing pharmaceuticals to African markets.

The new company will benefit from a three-year contract with GW. Elaiapharm intends to manufacture some 32 products under its own name over the next five years and a development unit has been established together with a reinforced marketing department.

Licensing deals are being negotiated with other drug firms, and Patrick Melieres, president of Elaiapharma, said it is interested in developing high-quality generics with strict control of raw materials.