Pfizer to Acquire Sanford, North Carolina Manufacturing Site from Abzena

•    State-of-the-art biologics drug substance facility will produce Pfizer’s innovative pipeline products and provide additional capacity for in-line medicines
•    Expected to more than double the current workforce of new facility by 2025

NEW YORK & SAN DIEGO, January 17, 2023 – Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and Abzena today announced that the companies have entered into an agreement under which Pfizer will acquire Abzena’s manufacturing facility in Sanford, North Carolina. Upon completion of the construction, the state-of-the-art facility will have extensive capabilities for producing biologics drug substance and provides additional manufacturing capacity allowing Pfizer to help accelerate its innovative pipeline. In addition, Abzena and Pfizer’s CentreOne contract manufacturing organization will seek to collaborate to advance complex biologic products to market. 

The new Sanford, North Carolina site is expected to employ approximately 300 employees by 2025, including the current staff of approximately 100 employees, which is expected to bring Pfizer’s total workforce in North Carolina to more than 4,500 employees. The site will employ experts in both biological pharmaceutical sciences and biological manufacturing, enabling Pfizer to offer a comprehensive co-development capability. Since 2017, Pfizer has invested more than $5 billion to support the ongoing growth of its manufacturing footprint in the U.S., with $1.4 billion invested in North Carolina. 

“Biologics continue to be an integral part of Pfizer’s pipeline and this acquisition will expand our research, clinical and commercial manufacturing capacity and help us accelerate the development of our pipeline products as well as support our Pfizer CentreOne customers,” said Mike McDermott, Chief Global Supply Officer, Executive Vice President, Pfizer.  “Furthermore, this site is located near our existing Rocky Mount and Sanford manufacturing sites, enabling access to turn-key services spanning large molecule drug substance through fill finish. We’re excited to welcome the site into our manufacturing network as we continue to enhance our expertise and offerings.”

Matt Stober, Abzena’s CEO, said, “We’re thrilled to announce this agreement with Pfizer. I am very proud of the facility and our colleagues who worked tirelessly in its construction, and we look forward to building our future collaboration with Pfizer.”

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023 subject to customary closing conditions. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Clifford Chance LLP is acting as Pfizer’s legal advisor. Abzena’s exclusive financial advisor for the transaction is Truist Securities, with Sidley Austin LLP serving as its legal advisor.

About Pfizer: Breakthroughs That Change Patients’ Lives

At Pfizer, we apply science and our global resources to bring therapies to people that extend and significantly improve their lives. We strive to set the standard for quality, safety and value in the discovery, development and manufacture of health care products, including innovative medicines and vaccines. Every day, Pfizer colleagues work across developed and emerging markets to advance wellness, prevention, treatments and cures that challenge the most feared diseases of our time. Consistent with our responsibility as one of the world's premier innovative biopharmaceutical companies, we collaborate with health care providers, governments and local communities to support and expand access to reliable, affordable health care around the world. For more than 170 years, we have worked to make a difference for all who rely on us. We routinely post information that may be important to investors on our website at www.Pfizer.com. In addition, to learn more, please visit us on www.Pfizer.com and follow us on Twitter at @Pfizer and @Pfizer News, LinkedIn, YouTube and like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/Pfizer.

About Abzena

Abzena provides the most complete set of solutions in integrated early discovery to mid-phase biotherapeutic and bioconjugation drug development and manufacturing in the biopharmaceutical industry. The company maintains resources around the world, with facilities in the US and UK. Abzena is owned by Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (WCAS), one of the world’s leading private equity investors and Biospring Partners. For more information, please see www.abzena.com

Disclosure Notice

The information contained in this press release is as of January 17, 2023. Pfizer assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements contained in this release as the result of new information or future events or developments. 

This press release contains forward-looking information about an agreement between Pfizer and Abzena under which Pfizer will acquire Abzena’s manufacturing facility in Sanford, North Carolina, a collaboration between Abzena and Pfizer CentreOne to create end-to-end contract development and manufacturing organization solutions that advance complex biologic products to market and Pfizer’s biologic pipeline portfolio enabling Pfizer to offer comprehensive co-development capability, including their potential benefits, that involves substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development; risks related to the satisfaction or waiver of the conditions to closing the proposed acquisition of the new facility in the anticipated timeframe or at all, including the possibility that the proposed acquisition does not close; risks related to the ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the proposed acquisition of the new facility and the collaboration, including the possibility that the expected benefits from the acquisition will not be realized or will not be realized within the expected time period; risks related to Pfizer’s business and prospects, adverse developments in Pfizer’s markets, or adverse developments in the U.S. or global capital markets, credit markets, regulatory environment or economies generally; uncertainties regarding impact of COVID-19; and competitive developments.  

A further description of risks and uncertainties can be found in Pfizer’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 and in its subsequent reports on Form 10-Q, including in the sections thereof captioned “Risk Factors” and “Forward-Looking Information and Factors That May Affect Future Results,” as well as in its subsequent reports on Form 8-K, all of which are filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and available at www.sec.gov and www.pfizer.com.

Pfizer Media Contact: 
+1 (212) 733-1226 
[email protected] 

Pfizer Investor Contact:
Investor Relations 
+1 (212) 733-4848 
[email protected]

Abzena Media Contact:
Deborah Leslie
RA Marketing PR
[email protected]