Aesica, a supplier of active pharmaceutical ingredients to the global pharmaceutical industry, announced Monday that it has acquired the chemical manufacturing facility at Ponders End, UK, from Merck Sharp & Dohme Limited (MSD), the UK subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, N.J.
Aesica has also entered into an agreement to supply intermediates and active ingredients to Merck over several years. The supply agreement has a potential revenue stream of $150 million to $300 million.
The Ponders End site, in Enfield, North London, is a high-tech manufacturing facility with a capacity to produce 300 tons of products per year.
Under the agreement, 74 employees currently working at Ponders End will immediately transfer their employment from MSD to Aesica.
The sale of the UK site is part of Merck's global restructuring of its manufacturing operations, previously announced in November 2005, to create a global manufacturing network that is better aligned to Merck's current and anticipated future product demand.