ZellBios is a leading independent manufacturer of specialty, high value-added active pharmaceutical ingredients, mostly off-patent, serving the worldwide pharmaceutical industry.
Invest in a leading player within the space of specialty, high value-added active pharmaceutical ingredients, characterized by favorable market conditions (unlocking robust growth over the medium term) and strong barriers to entry (including access to raw material, handling precautions, complex synthesis protocols, regulatory barriers). Support growth at both organic (through the expansion of the production and industrial sites) and M&A level (through strategic and synergetic add-on acquisitions), while leveraging on a strong reputation, undisputed know-how and development capabilities, as well as a predictable business with good visibility on future cash flows.
Italy
Healthcare
ZellBios is an independent manufacturer of specialty, high value-added active pharmaceutical ingredients (“APIs”). The company is headquartered in Raubling (Germany) and has production and R&D facilities in Germany, Italy, India, and Switzerland.
We acquired Farmabios from its founder in August 2007. We recognized (i) the company’s reputation and leadership position in high value-added niches, (ii) the strong know-how in manufacturing highly complex molecules, and (iii) the wide product portfolio and recurring customers base. To enable Farmabios reach its full potential, we focused on:
Our priority was to refine the company’s strategy, both in terms of organic initiatives and value-adding acquisitions, with the aim of creating a strong specialty APIs player with an international footprint. In terms of organic development, we focused on launching new products and expanding the company’s industrial footprint. As such, we launched a greenfield project around a new family of rapidly growing APIs, namely highly potent anti-cancer APIs, we finalized two capacity expansion projects in Germany (5-ASA) and India (L-Cysteine) and we acquired an industrial site in Switzerland.
The key growth accelerator of our investment in Farmabios was the transformational acquisition of Pharmazell in 2011. The combination of the two companies allowed to (i) increase critical mass, (ii) achieve significant commercial synergies, both in terms of products and customers, (iii) gain access to low-cost manufacturing, and (iv) boost the products’ pipeline.
Management acknowledged the need to further professionalize a series of internal processes and we supported the team in such initiative, putting in place a full set of financial and operational KPIs. This helped management not only to improve controlling but, most importantly, to anticipate risks and opportunities. In addition, we optimized operations by introducing a more focused approach vis-à-vis customers and products, diversifying the company’s suppliers base and implementing an effective currency hedging strategy. Finally, we reinforced the management team completing a full transition from the founder to a professional CEO and, following the merger with Pharmazell, to a group Executive Chairman and a group CFO.
Our manifesto: contributing to the development of sustainable finance
To succeed with this strategy, Apheon believes a holistic and collective approach is fundamental.
Holistic: it is essential that all aspects of ESG are equally and continuously supported. This is why we are active at every stage of the investment cycle by applying proprietarily developed methodologies and initiatives which are built on 5 priorities covering the broad ESG spectrum:
