Catalent continues its growth trajectory with the $475 million acquisition of Metrics Contract Services, a full-service specialty contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) with a facility in Greenville, N.C. 

The Somerset biopharma company announced the move Aug. 10, just a few weeks after unveiling its new operating structure, not to mention a new CEO, Alessandro Maselli, who started in the position July 1. 

Catalent said the acquisition from Mayne Pharma Group Ltd. will strengthen its capabilities in integrated oral solid formulation development, manufacturing and packaging, while also expanding its capacity to handle highly potent compounds. 

“Catalent, a global leader in advanced drug development and manufacturing, is well-positioned to continue to invest in and accelerate the growth of Metrics and we believe this transaction will be extremely positive for our Greenville team and customers,” Mayne Pharma CEO Scott Richards said in a statement. 

According to the acquisition announcement, the 333,000-square-foot Greenville facility has undergone more than $100 million in capital improvements over the past five years and now includes 16 manufacturing suites, with 11 designed to handle highly potent compounds as well as two packaging lines.  

The facility’s estimated annual production capacity exceeds 1 billion oral solid dose units, Catalent said. 

The deal is expected to close before the end of 2022, subject to customary closing conditions. Metrics’ more than 400 employees will join Catalent at that time. 

As part of the agreement, the Greenville facility will also continue to manufacture several Mayne Parma products. 

Aris Gennadios, group president of Catalent’s Pharma and Consumer Health segment, said in a statement that the Metrics team and facility “will provide Catalent’s customers with immediate, fit-for-scale capacity for in-demand highly potent drugs and other oral solid small-to-mid-size batch needs. 

“This capacity is particularly important for customers with R&D pipelines featuring accelerated, orphan, and rare disease programs for oncology and other important therapeutic areas,” Gennadios continued. 

Catalent will pay for this all-cash acquisition with a combination of cash on hand, existing credit facilities and potentially new debt financing, the company said in the statement. The closing is not contingent on any financing activity. 

Catalent currently has flagship manufacturing sites for large-scale and controlled release oral solids in Winchester, Ky.; softgel development and manufacturing in St. Petersburg, Fla.; as well as additional facilities.