Oslo, Norway, 30 January 2018
Norwegian pharmaceutical company Vistin Pharma ASA announced today that it has decided to postpone the construction of the new NOK 120 million production line at the Company's dedicated metformin production plant at Fikkjebakke. Revised estimates indicate that it will take longer to fill the new production line than first anticipated. Hence, to reduce the financial risk related to the investment, the Company has decided to postpone the construction until sales contracts for a larger part of the new volume are in place.
"The metformin market is experiencing a strong underlying growth, and we still believe we will be able to secure contracts for the additional new metformin volume required for a new production line", says CEO Kjell-Erik Nordby.
The new line will have an annual capacity of 3,000MT metformin. The existing production facility has an annual capacity of approximately 3,200MT metformin, which represents a global market share of around eight percent. The majority of Vistin Pharma's key customers are pharmaceutical companies that sell new and innovative metformin products, and the demand for the Company's metformin will partly be dependent on the performance of these products in the market place.
The detailed engineering work for the new production line has been completed, and key suppliers have been selected. Vistin Pharma will work closely with its customers to ensure that the Company will be able to supply the required metformin volumes going forward. When sufficient volumes have been secured to continue the expansion work, the Company will be able to have the 3,000MT capacity installed within approximately 18 months.
The Company has a strong financial position, and had cash and cash equivalents of NOK 85 million and no interest bearing debt at 31 December 2017.
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For further information, please contact:
Kjell-Erik Nordby
CEO
+47 91 36 42 80
kjell-erik.nordby@vistin.com
Gunnar Manum
CFO
+47 95 17 91 90
gunnar.manum@vistin.com
About Vistin Pharma
Vistin Pharma is a Norwegian pharmaceutical company producing Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) for the global pharmaceutical industry.
The Group was established in 2015 when Vistin Pharma AS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Vistin Pharma ASA, acquired the metformin and opioids business and tablet production assets from Weifa AS.
On 2 October 2017, Vistin Pharma sold its opioids and manufacturing business to TPI Enterprises Limited. Following the sale, Vistin Pharma is a pure play metformin producer, with a strong position in the global metformin market and with significant growth ambitions. Metformin is used as the first line treatment of diabetes 2, a disease which is expected to grow by 50 per cent towards 2030, and affect more than 500 million people. The global market for metformin is expected to grow by four to five per cent per annum, and Vistin Pharma is attractively positioned to capture part of this growth.