Strides completes Polish buy

Strides Polska has said that it has completed the acquisition of the erstwhile ICN Valeant sterile manufacturing unit in Warsaw, Poland. The acquisition now releases Strides Polska to begin expansion of its operations in Eastern Europe as part of Strides Global Network.

Strides Polska was created after Strides Arcolab, the Bangalore-based company, with presence in generics, OTC and nutraceuticals acquired a sterile manufacturing facility in Poland.

Strides Arcolab has manufacturing plants in North America and South America, in addition to its plants in India. The addition of Strides Polska?s facility to its global network has now added to their European operations which started with the acquisition of the Italian pharmaceutical plant, Beltapharm, in 2006.

Paul Moore, president, global manufacturing, Strides said, "This addition further strengthens Strides' presence in Europe and allows us to focus on developing Polish operations into a strategic part of our manufacturing network, as well as allowing us to promote our products and services in 'New Europe'.

The planned expansion will create a state-of-the-art sterile facility which will lead to increased production capabilities for the Strides group.

"Whilst focussing on the European markets, we intend to utilise the unit and its team to supply on a global basis, teaming up with our other plants worldwide. Our planned investments will increase present production capacity as well as introduce new sterile dose forms to the site," he said.