Ben Venue Laboratories, Inc. Announces Divestiture Of Assets Of Bedford Laboratories, Inc. To Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC

BEDFORD, Ohio, May 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Ben Venue Laboratories. Inc. ("Ben Venue"), a member of the Boehringer Ingelheim Group of Companies, announced today that the company has signed an asset purchase agreement for the sale of the assets of Bedford Laboratories, Ben Venue's U.S. injectable generics business to Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC ("Hikma"). Bedford Laboratories is a leading provider of generic sterile injectable medicines in the U.S., with a focus on acute-care hospitals, group purchasing organizations and oncology treatment centers. Under the terms of the agreement, Hikma will be acquiring Bedford Laboratories' assets, including a large product portfolio, intellectual property rights, contracts for products marketed under license, raw material inventories, a strong research and development (R&D) and business development pipeline, and a number of employees across key business functions, such as R&D, sales and marketing, business development and regulatory affairs.

"We believe that this is a positive development, allowing Hikma to leverage its existing infrastructure and manufacturing capabilities to re-introduce important products to the U.S. market, bringing significant benefit to patients," said Paul R. Fonteyne, U.S. Country Managing Director, President and CEO of Boehringer Ingelheim USA Corporation and Chairman, Ben Venue Board of Directors. "For more than 20 years, Bedford Laboratories and its product portfolio have been of great value to patients, customers and the marketplace. As part of Hikma, the Bedford team will remain focused on strengthening its relationships with customers and continuing to serve the needs of patients."

"I am very excited to be acquiring an impressive portfolio of Bedford's products and deep pipeline, which will significantly increase the scale and scope of our rapidly growing U.S. Injectables business.  Our focus on bringing back critical products to the market that are currently in short supply will bring significant benefit to patients," said Said Darwazah, Chief Executive Officer of Hikma. "I am confident that we have the technical capabilities and manufacturing expertise to successfully re-launch Bedford's products in the near term. Our experience in integrating previous acquisitions will help to ensure a smooth integration."

In addition, Hikma has entered into an exclusivity arrangement with the Boehringer Ingelheim Group to potentially acquire substantially all of the assets of the Ben Venue manufacturing facility, subject to due diligence and customary approvals in the U.S. and the U.K.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch acted as the financial advisor, and Covington & Burling LLP acted as counsel, to Ben Venue.

About Bedford Laboratories
Bedford Laboratories is a leading provider of generic sterile injectable medicines with a focus on acute-care hospitals, group purchasing organizations and oncology treatment centers. Bedford Laboratories develops and distributes a broad portfolio of high-quality, medically necessary medicines to patients in hospitals and clinics across the United States and Puerto Rico through authorized distributors and drug wholesalers. Founded in 1993, Bedford has one of the largest and most experienced generic injectable salesforces in the industry, and is one of the top three Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) holders in the U.S. For more information, visit www.bedfordlabs.com.

SOURCE Ben Venue Laboratories, Inc.