positive news: "Insmed Acquires Manufacturing Facility from Baxter International"
Wednesday April 14, 4:05 pm ET
RICHMOND, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 14, 2004--Insmed Incorporated (Nasdaq: INSM - News) today announced that it has acquired a lease to operate a recombinant protein manufacturing facility formerly operated by Baxter International (NYSE: BAX - News). Insmed intends to use the facility for the commercial manufacture of its Phase III development product, rhIGF-I/rhIGFBP-3, also known as SomatoKine®. Avecia Limited, Insmed's current contract manufacturer, will continue to provide commercial manufacturing in preparation for an anticipated product launch of SomatoKine®. The combination of the two facilities is expected to meet Insmed's anticipated development and commercial demands over the next several years.
Insmed plans to retain several operational executives and scientists formerly employed by Baxter to operate this facility, which is located in Boulder, Colorado. Tom Keuer, previously Vice President of Engineering for the BioSciences Division of Baxter International, will assume the position of Vice President of Colorado Operations for Insmed. Mr. Keuer, who has over twenty years of biotech industry experience, including ten years of operational experience at the Boulder facility stated, "This is an extraordinary opportunity for Insmed to acquire a fully functional biotechnology production facility and a well trained team of manufacturing experts. I expect that this facility will be fully operational and in production by the end of this year. I believe this facility will provide an important competitive advantage to Insmed in the industry and position the company to meet the demands of its promising drug pipeline and commercial activities."
Geoffrey Allan, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer stated, "By leveraging the commercial manufacturing of Avecia and production from our Boulder facility we will have the back-up manufacturing capability needed to provide an uninterrupted supply of commercial drug. I believe successful drug companies would agree that it is important not to operate with only a single manufacturing source. The addition of a second manufacturing facility is added protection that we will meet the anticipated commercial demands for SomatoKine® for the next several years. This action is a responsible business practice for any company that wishes to maximize commercial success of their drugs."
The addition of the Boulder manufacturing facility is expected to increase Insmed's operational expenses approximately $4.5 million for the remainder of the 2004 year. These expenses relate to personnel and raw material costs for fermentation, purification and commercial production of drug product. Insmed has also provided a Letter of Credit to the landlord of the Boulder facility in the amount of $1.6 million for prepayment of the outstanding lease term of 4 years and a Letter of Credit for $2.0 million to Baxter to cover facility restoration expenses on termination of the lease. Insmed will provide additional details regarding the addition of the Boulder facility during the regularly scheduled quarterly conference call on May 6. |
