European CDMO Ardena will buy Catalent’s oral solids manufacturing facility in Somerset, N.J.
Catalent, the contract development and manufacturing organization currently being acquired by Novo Holdings, is selling an oral solids manufacturing facility in Somerset, N.J.
Financial details were not disclosed, however the deal is set to close in early 2025, according to a Monday press release. A spokesperson for Catalent told BioSpace by email that the “sale of Somerset is unrelated to the Novo Holdings transaction.”
European CDMO Ardena will buy the facility. The company has locations in Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands and Sweden, and now will add the U.S. oral solids development and small-scale manufacturing site.
Catalent’s corporate headquarters are also housed at the site and will remain there for the time being before moving elsewhere, according to the release. The new location has not been disclosed.
The deal will not leave Catalent without oral solids capabilities. The company acquired a 333,000 square foot facility in Greenville, N.C., for $475 million in October 2022. The facility has capabilities to develop oral solid dosage formulations, manufacturing and packaging.
The sale comes as Catalent is being acquired by Novo Nordisk parent Novo Holdings, a deal that recently came under scrutiny from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who urged the Federal Trade Commission to intervene.
Novo Nordisk hopes to boost manufacturing capacity for its blockbuster GLP-1 drug semaglutide, but Catalent also manufactures some of rival Ely Lilly’s competing product. Warren argued that if Novo takes hold of the CDMO’s facility, it could impede Lilly’s ability to manufacturine a competing stockpile.
