OREANDA-NEWS. Fresenius Kabi and Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) announced today that Fresenius Kabi has acquired the BD Rx business, which includes a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Wilson, N.C., and the BD line of seven drugs in ready-to-administer prefilled glass syringes. Fresenius Kabi and BD have also signed a 10-year supply and distribution agreement under which Fresenius Kabi will supply BD with a portfolio of intravenous (IV) solutions.

Prefilled injectable medicines are designed to help improve patient care and safety by decreasing the number of steps in the traditional vial and syringe injection sequence, reducing the potential risk of medication error.

“Ready-to-administer, prefilled syringes are a growing segment in health care due to increased focus on medication safety and labor-saving efficiency,” said John Ducker, President and CEO of Fresenius Kabi USA. “They are a natural complement to our portfolio, enabling us to offer customers more choices and a broader range of specialty injectable medicines in vials as well as ready-to-administer presentations.”

The North Carolina plant, which employs about 100 people, features advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing and packaging technologies, and was approved by the FDA in 2012. It currently produces seven drugs in ready-to-administer prefilled syringes and has capacity for future growth. Fresenius Kabi expects to invest in the facility over time, making it its global center of excellence for prefilled syringe production. The two companies will work together to assure a smooth transition for employees and customers.

“We believe Fresenius Kabi is a better owner for the BD Rx business, because it complements their existing capabilities in the injectable pharmaceutical industry,” said Tom Polen, President of BD’s Medical Segment. “In addition, we look forward to working with Fresenius Kabi to extend our medication management strategy through the addition of a portfolio of IV fluids, which will broaden our clinical and economical end-to-end solutions for our customers and their patients.”

Fresenius Kabi plans to register more IV drugs for the prefilled syringe format. As a consequence of these investments, the transaction is not expected to be accretive to earnings in the short-term.

Financial and contractual terms of the transactions were not disclosed.

This release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Future results could differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements due to certain factors, e.g. changes in business, economic and competitive conditions, regulatory reforms, results of clinical trials, foreign exchange rate fluctuations, uncertainties in litigation or investigative proceedings, and the availability of financing. Fresenius does not undertake any responsibility to update the forward-looking statements in this release.