Aesica Will Purchase Three UCB Facilities

Contract manufacturer Aesica Pharmaceuticals has signed an agreement to acquire three sites from Belgian drug company UCB. Founded in 2004, Aesica operates several plants in the U.K. that it acquired from drug companies. The firm says the UCB plants—facilities in Monheim and Zwickau, Germany, and Pianezza, Italy, that employ around 600 people—will almost double its capabilities and expand it outside of the U.K. UCB says changes in its product portfolio have reduced its need for large manufacturing capacity for chemical entities. Aesica says it will enter a long-term partnership with UCB.