Tokyo: Pharma giant Astellas Pharma Inc. has announced that the company and MicroBiopharm Japan Co. Ltd. (MBJ) have concluded an agreement, under which the business of Kiyosu Plant (Kiyosu-shi, Aichi), the manufacturing site, will be transferred to MBJ.

Astellas says that the company is engaged in ongoing efforts to create organizations and systems that can flexibly respond to rapidly changing environments and work toward higher quality and efficiency of operations. In the areas of manufacturing and technology as well, Astellas strives to promote the establishment of a stable manufacturing system that would efficiently realize 'steady supply of high-quality drugs' in changing environment. As a part of these efforts, Astellas has reached an agreement with MBJ under which the pharmaceutical manufacturing business of Kiyosu Plant will be transferred to MBJ.

The transfer of the Kiyosu Plant business is said to make Astellas aim to ensure higher quality and efficiency in its manufacturing and technology functions. The pharmaceutical substances currently manufactured at the Kiyosu Plant are planned to be continuously manufactured there as outsourcing products to MBJ.

MBJ is a CMO that has over 50 years' experience and technology in fermentation, genetic recombination. Those knowledge and achievements can be applicable to production of the pharmaceutical substances currently manufactured at Kiyosu plant. Taking this opportunity, MBJ will further strengthen and deepen their CMO business in Bio-pharmaceutical fields. Financial terms including the value of this transfer are not disclosed.