Novo A/S acquires Norway's Xellia Pharmaceuticals in $700 million deal

Denmark-based Novo A/S, the holding company of the Novo Group and the major shareholder in Novo Nordisk and Novozymes, has purchased all shares of the Norwegian firm Xellia Pharmaceutical for around $700 million from 3i and other current shareholders. As a consequence of the transaction, Xellia will revert to Danish ownership with headquarters in Copenhagen.

Since its spin-out from Alpharma in 2008, Xellia’s management and international investor 3i have successfully transformed the business from an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturer to a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on anti-infective products. Xellia’s life-saving anti-infective products for multi-drug resistant infections address a growing global medical challenge, and the company is a world leading supplier of vancomycin and colistimethate sodium (CMS). Xellia’s products are all manufactured using fermentation-based biological processes at facilities located in Denmark, Norway, Hungary and China.

Xellia has substantial pipeline of generic anti-infective treatments