Philip Morris International to Acquire Vectura Group

Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) has agreed with the board of Vectura Group plc on the terms of an all-cash, recommended offer to acquire Vectura for an enterprise value of GBP 852 million (approximately $1.2 billion).

“PMI’s Beyond Nicotine strategy, announced in February, articulates a clear ambition to leverage our expertise in inhalation and aerosolization into adjacent areas — including respiratory drug delivery and selfcare wellness — with a goal to reach at least $1 billion in net revenues by 2025,” said Jacek Olczak, chief executive officer. “The acquisition of Vectura, following the recently announced agreement to acquire Fertin Pharma, will position us to accelerate this journey by expanding our capabilities in innovative inhaled and oral product formulations in order to deliver long-term growth and returns.”

“The market for inhaled therapeutics is large and growing rapidly, with significant potential for expansion into new application areas. PMI has the commitment to science and the financial resources to empower Vectura’s skilled team to execute on an ambitious long-term vision. Together, PMI and Vectura can lead this global category, bringing benefits to patients, to consumers, to public health, and to society-at-large.”

Vectura is a provider of inhaled drug delivery solutions that enable partners to bring their medicines to patients. The company has 13 key inhaled and 11 non-inhaled products marketed by major global pharmaceutical partners, as well as a diverse portfolio of partnerships for drugs in clinical development.

With the acquisition of Vectura, PMI will:

• Gain access to differentiated proprietary technology and pharmaceutical development expertise to deliver a broad range of complex inhaled therapies.
• Add highly complementary human capital, technology, high quality infrastructure, and deep know-how of inhalable formulation and device design development and analysis, drug/device combination, and pharmaceutical management processes and systems. The combination will fully leverage PMI’s existing capabilities in life sciences, product innovation, and clinical expertise.
• Welcome an experienced management team — supported by more than 200 scientists in formulation, devices, inhalation, regulatory teams, and clinical manufacturing — that will help PMI accelerate the development of its healthcare and wellness operations.
• Together with the announced agreement to acquire Fertin Pharma, have a comprehensive portfolio of development capabilities in place — covering inhaled and oral product formulations — to fulfill its “Beyond Nicotine” ambitions, in line with its key sustainability priorities.

PMI believes that, together, the companies can create a fully owned pipeline of products across a broad range of sectors in the prescription drug and over the counter (OTC) categories that will complement Vectura’s CDMO business and service to its existing client base. PMI further believes that its “Beyond Nicotine” aerosolization technologies and development pipeline will provide additional predictability, stability, and security for Vectura’s future.

In February of this year, PMI announced its goal to generate more than 50% of total net revenue from smoke-free products by 2025. PMI also announced its aim to generate at least $1 billion in net revenues by 2025 from “Beyond Nicotine” products.