Patheon buys Novartis Canada plant

Novartis' Canadian pharmaceutical subsidiary has entered into along-term manufacturing agreement with the country's Patheon, in a deal which includes the sale of Novartis' plant in Whitby, Ontario. Patheon will manufacture products for Novartis at the facility under a five-year deal that could bring in up to C$300 million ($192.9 million) in revenues. The contract is renewable for successive two-year terms.

The Whitby plant manufactures over 80 products including the cold remedies NeoCitran and Theraflu, and Patheon will pay about C$28 million, plus C$6.5 million for the plant's debt and inventory. Most of the 400 employees at the facility will be retained by Patheon once the deal closes by the end of April.

Patheon's chief executive, Robert Tedford, said that the Whitby facility will give the firm US Food and Drug Administration-approved, flexible manufacturing plant "that complements the dosage form capabilities of our existing sites and provides us with additional capacity in North America."