Novasep, based in Lyon (
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
), is a group of companies involved in pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical technologies.
History
The company emerged as a start-up founded by Roger-Marc Nicoud , producing pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals, and purification technologies for food markets.
Novasep was privately owned until 2005 before it was sold to the American Rockwood group. In 2005, the major investments were made with Rockwood as an investment partner. As of 2007, the private equity investors Gilde Buy-Out Partners and Banexi Capital Partenaires will hold 72 percent of Groupe Novasep, with management's share increasing to 28 percent. In 2011, as a result of the financial crisis, the company's debts of 450 million euros had to be restructured; this brought the company's capital through a haircut and debt stake swap into the hands of the American investors Tennenbaum, Silver Point and
Pimco. The founder subsequently left the company and new management was appointed; the headquarters was moved from
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...
in
Lorraine
Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gr ...
to
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
.
Novasep's
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
viral vector manufacturing division, Henogen, was sold to
Thermo Fisher
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is an American supplier of scientific instrumentation, reagents and consumables, and software services. Based in Waltham, Massachusetts, Thermo Fisher was formed through the merger of Thermo Electron and Fisher S ...
for €725 million in January 2021. Later that month it was announced by
AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca plc () is a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with its headquarters at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in Cambridge, England. It has a portfolio of products for major diseases in areas includin ...
that production difficulties at the Belgium plant meant supplies of the
Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine
The Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID19 vaccine, sold under the brand names Covishield and Vaxzevria among others, is a viral vector vaccine for prevention of COVID-19. Developed in the United Kingdom by Oxford University and British-Swedish com ...
to the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
would be less than the 80m doses expected be supplied to March 2021.
References
Footnotes
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
* {{cite web , last1=Mullin , first1=Rick , title=Thermo Fisher strikes again in viral vectors , url=https://cen.acs.org/pharmaceuticals/biologics/Thermo-Fisher-strikes-again-viral/99/web/2021/01 , website=cen.acs.org , access-date=29 November 2021 , language=En , date=January 15, 2021
Pharmaceutical companies established in 1995