Unither Pharmaceuticals strengthens its presence in South America by acquiring Brazilian CDMO Mariol Industrial

Unither Pharmaceuticals, active in Brazil since late 2011 through its sales subsidiary Unither do Brasil, is strengthening its industrial and commercial footprint in South America thanks to the acquisition of pharmaceutical company Mariol Industrial from its founder.

With more than 150 employees, Mariol Industrial, located in Barretos, in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, stands out as a rare example of a Brazil-based pharmaceutical manufacturer that boasts the industrial facilities and expertise necessary to produce solid, semi-solid and liquid suspension dosage forms. In particular, it is one of very few companies to master liquid stick-pack technology.  

This acquisition marks a new step forward in Unither Pharmaceuticals Group’s internationalisation strategy, and comes directly in the wake of FDA approval granted in 2011 for the company’s factory in Coutances, in the Normandy region of France, as well as the 2013 acquisition of the Rochester factory (NY/USA) from pharmaceutical group UCB. 

In addition to maintaining current manufacturing projects for leading Brazilian, American, European and Asian pharmaceutical groups, Unither is looking to capitalize on this acquisition to offer its present clients local production of products intended for the Brazilian market. 

According to IMS Health, the Brazilian pharmaceuticals market was the world’s seventh largest in 2015, and is likely to reach fifth place by 2020 thanks to further growth momentum. 

Eric Goupil, President of Unither Pharmaceuticals, commented: “We are particularly proud of this new achievement for Unither Group. This initiative has received extremely strong support from our main clients, eager to enter the fast-growing Brazilian market. It is a tribute to the policy of excellence we have implemented since the group’s creation and the quality of the partnerships we have built with our clients.” 

Since 2011, Unither Pharmaceuticals Group has pursued its expansion strategy with the support of Investment fund Equistone Partners Europe.