Country for PR: United States
Contributor: PR Newswire New York
Wednesday, September 02 2020 - 03:01
AsiaNet
Bridgewest Australia Holdings LLC Acquires Pfizer manufacturing facility in Adelaide, Australia
SAN DIEGO and ADELAIDE, Australia, Sept. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --

- Bridgewest to develop the site into a full-service Contract Development and 
Manufacturing Organization 

The Bridgewest Group, a premier private investment company that focuses on 
disrupting industries through innovation today announced its subsidiary's 
purchase of Pfizer's biologics manufacturing facility in Adelaide, Australia. 
Hospira Adelaide Pty Ltd., an affiliate of Pfizer Inc., will continue to 
operate the facility under a leaseback arrangement from Bridgewest Australia 
Real Estate Pty Ltd. until Q3 of 2021, at which time Bridgewest will assume 
full operational responsibility for the facility and colleagues.  Financial 
terms were not disclosed.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1246220/Bridgewest_Logo.jpg

The Adelaide facility has the manufacturing capability, staff expertise, and 
supporting systems to execute cGMP grade manufacturing and testing of 
microbial-based products, including proteins, vaccines, and plasmids from 
development stage through to commercialization.  

The facility has experience as a multi-product CDMO (Contract Development and 
Manufacturing Organization) which moving forward, under Bridgewest's ownership, 
will be further developed and expanded upon. 

Bridgewest intends to invest in operational expansion, including adding 
capabilities around Mammalian Cell production, Cell and Gene Therapy as well as 
expanding current capabilities for Microbial and Vaccine production.

According to industry analysts, the Pharmaceutical CDMO market was valued USD 
148.5 billion in 2019, and it is expected to reach USD 224.9 billion by 2025, 
registering a CAGR of 7%, during the period of 2020-2025 - As a result of the 
growing demand for generic medicines and biologics, the capital-intensive 
nature of the business, and the complex manufacturing requirements, many 
pharmaceutical companies have identified the potential profitability in 
contracting with a CMO (contract manufacturing outsourcing) for both clinical 
and commercial stage manufacturing, and now with heavy demands on existing cGMP 
manufacturing facilities for COVID-19 therapeutics and vaccines, there is a 
high demand for qualified and well-equipped commercial cGMP facilities.[1]

Masood Tayebi, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Bridgewest, said, "We have 
been very fortunate over the past 16 years since the founding of our first life 
science venture, BioDuro, to have developed strong relationships within the 
life sciences industry. These relationships and trust is what paved the way for 
the successful closing of this transaction. As we transition this site into a 
full-fledged CDMO, we see significant potential to leverage this center of 
excellence to ensure that we are meeting the needs of our clients across every 
stage of drug development and manufacture." 

Ian Wisenberg, President and CEO of Bridgewest Australia Biotech, said, "We are 
thrilled with our first acquisition in Australia.  This Site has all the 
trappings to be a significant player in support of the development and 
manufacture of therapeutics for our clients around the world.  The team is 
world-class, and we are very excited to have the opportunity to retain such a 
capable and experienced group of individuals.  With investment from Bridgewest, 
we will be able to expand our capabilities and offering to become a force both 
locally and abroad.  We will also look for additional M&A opportunities to 
achieve these goals as well as seek to attract and retain the very best talent 
in the market."

About Bridgewest Group
Bridgewest Australia Holdings is a portfolio company of the Bridgewest Group, a 
closely held investment company with significant assets under management in 
hi-tech and wireless technology, biotech and pharmaceuticals, real estate, 
banking and capital markets.  Investments in the life sciences have included 
BioDuro, BioArdis, BioAtla, Formex and Molecular Response. Visit 
http://bridgewestgroup.com/

[1]   Source: ReportLinker | June 03, 2020 16:21 ET

CONTACT: Ian Wisenberg, (858) 722-2552, iwisenberg@bridgewestgroup.com 

SOURCE  The Bridgewest Group