Emergent BioSolutions announced that it has finalised the sale of its Baltimore-Camden manufacturing site to the Taiwanese firm Bora Pharmaceuticals.
The sale was first announced in July 2024, as Emergent sought to recover from three years of financial decline following initial commercial success during the Covid-19 pandemic. Emergent is set to receive approximately $30m from Bora, subject to post-closing adjustments. In return, Bora will acquire the assets, equipment, and workforce of the 87,000 square foot facility.
Joe Papa, President and CEO of Emergent described the sale as, “a significant step forward in our multi-year plan to stabilise, turnaround, and transform Emergent,” as the company moves towards becoming a “leaner and more flexible organisation”. Papa stated that the development contributes to a “multi-year plan to improve overall profitability and raise capital to reduce our debt.”
According to Yahoo Finance, Emergent share price had declined by as much as 98.85% by February 2024 from a high during August 2020. However, more recently, after the World Health Organization declared a global public health emergency of international concern regarding mpox, the company’s stock has risen by 41.83%. Emergent’s market cap currently stands at $514m.
On 19 August, the company announced it would donate 50,000 doses of their ACAM2000 vaccine to the Democratic Republic of Congo and other nations affected by mpox outbreaks. The vaccine, acquired from Sanofi in 2017, can be used for mpox immunisation under an Expanded Access Investigational New Drug (EA-IND) protocol.
GlobalData projects ACAM2000 will generate $121m in revenue in 2024, increasing to $129m annually by 2030.
GlobalData is the parent company of Pharmaceutical Technology.
The Bora deal follows Emergent’s sale of its RSDL (Reactive Skin Decontaminant Lotion) kit to SERB Pharmaceuticals in July 2024 for $75m. The company also announced in May that it would eliminate 300 jobs and shut down two facilities in Baltimore and Maryland to save an estimated $80m in annual costs. This year, Emergent has also agreed on deals with the US government worth as much as $488m to supply vaccines and other therapeutics. In the meantime, the company maintains focus on its blockbuster opioid overdose medication Narcan (naloxone).
Emergent’s sale represents the second US facility acquisition by Bora, following its purchase of Upsher-Smith Laboratories in April this year. The Taiwanese firm is expanding its contract development and manufacturing and organisation (CDMO) operations into the US as the BIOSECURE Act threatens American corporate ties to many of the company’s rivals, particularly in China.
