Vectura

Vectura was formed in 1997 at the University of Bath as a start-up pharmaceuticals business.{{Cite web |title=About us |url=https://jobs.vectura.com/about-us |access-date=2022-06-16 |website=Vectura}} In 1999 it acquired Co-ordinated Drug Development and the Centre for Drug Formulation Studies.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=Company History |url=http://www.vectura.com/company/company-history/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180312193023/http://www.vectura.com/company/company-history/ |archive-date=12 March 2018 |website=Vectura |via=Internet Archive}} The company moved from the university campus to a site at Chippenham, Wiltshire in 2002. In 2004 it was listed on the Alternative Investment Market. In 2006, Vectura acquired Innovata Biomed plc, another developer of pulmonary products,{{cite news |last=Barriaux |first=Marianne |date=17 November 2006 |title=Vectura buys Innovata |website=Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2006/nov/17/7}} and then moved onto the full list of the London Stock Exchange. It acquired Activaero, a German manufacturer in the same sector, for £108{{Nbsp}}million in March 2014.{{cite web|url=http://www.pharmatimes.com/article/14-03-16/UK_s_Vectura_buys_Activaero_for_%C2%A3108_million.aspx|title=UK's Vectura buys Activaero for £108 million|publisher=Pharma Times|date=16 March 2014|access-date=20 June 2015}} In June 2016, Vectura completed a £441{{Nbsp}}million merger with Skyepharma, a maker of devices such as asthma inhalers; it was stated that the merged company would continue to be known as Vectura.{{cite news|date=16 March 2016|title=Vectura and Skyepharma to merge in £441m deal|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/03/16/vectura-and-skyepharma-to-merge-in-441m-deal/|access-date=11 June 2016|website=The Daily Telegraph|last1=Bradshaw|first1=Julia}}

The former Skyepharma manufacturing plant at Lyon, France, makes various oral products including tablets. After Vectura decided to concentrate on inhaled products, in June 2021 the company supported a buy-out of the site by its management, with finance from Bpifrance.{{Cite web |date=10 June 2021 |title=Vectura announces completion of management buy-out of Lyon oral subsidiary, Skyepharma Production SAS |url=https://www.vectura.com/about/news/vectura-announces-completion-of-management-buy-out-of-lyon-oral-subsidiary-skyepharma-production-sas/ |access-date=2022-06-16 |website=Vectura |language=en-US}}

In July 2021, American tobacco company Philip Morris International made an offer to buy Vectura Group for £1 billion.{{Cite news|last=Ralph|first=Alex|date=9 July 2021|title=Philip Morris buys respiratory drugs company Vectura for £1bn|work=The Times|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/philip-morris-buys-respiratory-drugs-company-vectura-for-1bn-9mfts7jxq|access-date=9 July 2021|issn=0140-0460}} The Carlyle Group, an American private equity firm, also submitted an offer which was £44m lower.{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/aug/10/health-firm-vectura-faced-with-choice-between-carlyle-and-philip-morris|title=Health firm Vectura faced with choice between Carlyle and Philip Morris|date=10 August 2021|website=the Guardian}} The board subsequently accepted the offer from Philip Morris International{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/aug/12/pressure-grows-on-vectura-board-to-reject-philip-morris-takeover-bid|title=Vectura board unanimously accepts Philip Morris's controversial takeover bid|date=12 August 2021|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=17 September 2021}} and, in September, it confirmed that circa 75% of shareholders had supported the takeover.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/business/philip-morris-seals-deal-buy-vectura-with-75-shares-tendered-2021-09-16/|title=Philip Morris seals deal for UK's Vectura despite health group concerns|date=16 September 2021|newspaper=Reuters|access-date=21 September 2021}}

In December 2024, three months after an agreement between the parties was announced, Vectura was acquired by the American manufacturing company Molex (a subsidiary of Koch, Inc.).{{cite web|url=https://www.medicaldevice-developments.com/news/molex-to-acquire-vectura-from-philip-morris-subsidiary-in-150m-deal/|title=Molex to acquire Vectura from Philip Morris subsidiary in £150m deal|date=18 September 2024|newspaper=Medical Device Developments|access-date=7 January 2025}}

The takeover by Philip Morris was widely condemned.{{Cite journal |last=Hopkinson |first=Nicholas S. |date=2022-06-01 |title=Vectura and Philip Morris: the leopard has not changed its spots |url=https://thorax.bmj.com/content/77/6/537 |journal=Thorax |language=en |volume=77 |issue=6 |pages=537–538 |doi=10.1136/thoraxjnl-2021-218328 |issn=0040-6376 |pmid=34949723}}{{Cite web |title=Vectura - TobaccoTactics |url=https://tobaccotactics.org/article/vectura/ |access-date=2024-04-30 |website=tobaccotactics.org |language=en}} Because Vectura became part of the tobacco industry, the company, and people who work for it or in collaboration with it, were subject to policies that exclude the tobacco industry.{{Cite news |last=Kollewe |first=Julia |last2=Davies |first2=Rob |date=2021-09-16 |title=Inhaler firm Vectura removed from conference over Philip Morris takeover |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/sep/16/tobacco-philip-morris-takeover-uk-inhaler-vectura-health |access-date=2024-04-30 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}

The British Thoracic Society made the following statement:

{{blockquote|Vectura, a company that for over 20 years has worked to treat lung disease, is now part of the tobacco industry. This is inappropriate, unethical and should have been prevented. The society’s policy in relation to the tobacco industry remains clear.}}

The Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) took the following position:

{{blockquote|We give official notice that our organizations and members cannot condone new interactions and links with any company wholly owned by a tobacco company such as Phillip Morris International.  This is in accordance with our rules, ethical codes, and the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (the UN Tobacco Control Treaty) guidance.''{{Cite web |last=Salter |first=Fiona |date=2022-01-14 |title=Joint statement on the implications of Philip Morris International’s acquisition of Vectura |url=https://www.firsnet.org/resources/position-statements/position-statements-article/170-joint-statement-on-the-implications-of-philip-morris-international-s-acquisition-of-vectura |access-date=2024-04-30 |website=FIRS |language=en-gb}}}}

The American Thoracic Society stated:

{{blockquote|ATS prohibits tobacco companies and those who have received funding from tobacco companies from involvement with the ATS in a number of ways, from publishing in ATS journals, to presenting at our international conference. We believe it’s critical that a separation be maintained between tobacco companies and respiratory health groups. These polices, based on the extensive evidence of misconduct over many years by the tobacco industry, reflect the total lack of confidence we have in any claims from the tobacco industry of efforts to improve health.{{Cite web |title=ATS News - President’s Message: ATS Condemns the Acquisition of Vectura Group by Phillip Morris, International |url=https://news.thoracic.org/community/presidents-message/2021-august.php |access-date=2024-04-30 |website=news.thoracic.org}}}}

Vectura is a developer of inhaled therapies for the treatment of respiratory diseases.{{cite web|title=Dr Karl Keegan to join Vectura Group|url=http://www.manufacturingchemist.com/jobs/article_page/Dr_Karl_Keegan_to_join_Vectura_Group/80292#sthash.O1PVPybL.dpuf|access-date=20 June 2015|publisher=Manufacturing Chemist}} Since 2019, it has operated as a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), helping other companies bring inhaled medicines to market.

The headquarters and development facility at Chippenham, England, on a mixed industrial site on the outskirts of the town, employed around 250 {{As of|2022|lc=y}}.{{Cite web |title=Chippenham |url=https://jobs.vectura.com/our-locations/chippenham |access-date=2022-06-16 |website=Vectura}} There are also development sites at Cambridge, Muttenz (Basel, Switzerland) and Gauting (Germany). There are plans for a new research & development building at the Bristol and Bath Science Park, not far from Chippenham, which could open in 2025.{{Cite web |date=February 2022 |title=New R&D Facility, Bristol and Bath Science Park |url=https://www.vectura.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/152795_Project-ICE-Consultation-Boards-REV-F-small.pdf |access-date=16 June 2022 |website=Vectura}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Official website|https://www.vectura.com/}}

{{Pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry in the United Kingdom}}

{{Philip Morris International}}

Category:British companies established in 1997

Category:British subsidiaries of foreign companies

Category:Chippenham

Category:Companies based in Wiltshire

Category:Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange

Category:Pharmaceutical companies established in 1997

Category:Pharmaceutical companies of England

Category:Philip Morris International

Category:2021 mergers and acquisitions

Category:2024 mergers and acquisitions

Category:Contract development and manufacturing organizations