BRUSSELS: Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of diagnostic and therapeutic products based on “molecularly-targeted radiation” (MTR), has disclosed that it has entered into a conditional purchase agreement with Eckert & Ziegler Strahlen und Medizintechnik Aktiengesellschaft (EZAG) to acquire a licensed radiopharmaceutical production facility in Seneffe, Belgium.
Telix expects that its future European manufacturing needs will be met by the acquisition of the Site. In the Americas and Asia/Pacific regions, Telix has established partnerships with leading firms that have sufficient manufacturing capacity to support commercialisation.
In contrast, the European radiopharmaceutical manufacturing landscape is fragmented and lacks the scale-up production capacity to deliver Telix’s needs across its product portfolio.
The timing of this acquisition is important as the Company expects to complete two European product launches in the next 18-24 months and there is significant lead-time to complete the necessary regulatory and compliance requirements for the Site.
Telix expects to continue to work with key existing EU contract manufacturing partners for both backup manufacturing and product delivery in certain territories where existing production solutions may be adequate.
CEO Dr. Christian Behrenbruch stated, “This is a big step forward for Telix, but it is a commercially necessary step given the Company’s commercial trajectory over the next two years. The Site is unique in both the depth of the license and its operational fit with our entire product portfolio. We’d like to acknowledge the excellent support and advice from a multitude of Belgian regulatory, science & technology, and economic development agencies that have worked very closely with us to validate the business case for this transaction.”
The completion of the transaction is subject to several closing conditions related to attaining the requisite regulatory approvals in Belgium.
Key closing conditions include receiving approval from Belgium’s Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (FANC) for both the transfer of the licence to Telix and its amendment to enable production activities to commence, as well as repeat verification of key environment testing and regulator audits.
Closing is expected to occur in the 1st half of 2020. The cost of acquisition, ownership and initial fit-out will not adversely impact the Company’s financial position ineither2019 or 2020.