Bespak will go forward as a standalone CDMO after separating from former parent company Recipharm in order to focus on the transition to lower global warming potential (LGWP) propellants, the company announced. The new Bespak Group will be led by the former President of Recipharm’s Advanced Delivery Systems Business Unit, Chris Hirst, as CEO, and former Teva CEO Kåre Schultz will serve as Chairman of the Board.
Recipharm acquired Bespak in 2019 as part of its acquisition of Consort Medical. The new company will include the long-time Bespak site in King’s Lynn, UK as well as two other sites from Recipharm: the former Cirrus Pharmaceuticals facility in Research Triangle Park, NC, US, and the former Sanofi inhalation manufacturing facility in Holmes Chapel, UK.
Hirst commented, “The spin-out of 3 former Recipharm sites, each with a long history in inhaled and nasal drug delivery, creates a new company with a clear vision and a unique offering for customers. The new Bespak will be the trusted innovation partner and sustainability leader in the transition to greener inhalers.”
“We are committed to leading the transition to low GWP propellants in pMDIs,” he added, “and in making this investment we become the only CDMO, and indeed the only site, in the world to have the capability to manufacture at scale with both new green propellants: HFA-152a and HFO-1234ze. With our broad range of services and team of experts enabling us to develop and commercialize pMDIs, combined with our market-leading position in pMDI valves and actuators, our customers can be confident they are in safe hands as they make the transition to sustainable inhalers.”
Recipharm had recently announced the appointment of Simon Gardner, formerly the Business Development Director of HFA-152a maker Koura Global, to assist customers with the LGWP transition, and Gardner will continue as Business Development Director at Bespak.
The Holmes Chapel MDI manufacturing facility will also be expanded further to add pilot and commercial scale HFA-152a filling lines, the company said. In August 2023, Recipharm announced that it was partnering with Honeywell on development of MDIs formulated with Honeywell’s Solstice Air HFO-1234ze(e), and according to Bespak, the Holmes Chapel site has already manufactured HFO-1234ze MDIs at commercial scale.
Read the Bespak press release.
