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Completion of a new £58 million research and development facility has been thrown into doubt after Philip Morris International brought a hasty end to its contentious ownership of the inhaler group Vectura.
The respiratory drugs company won planning permission for a state-of-the-art Inhalation Centre of Excellence at the Bristol and Bath Science Park in September 2022, the year after it was acquired by the tobacco group for £1 billion.
Construction of the facility, dubbed Project ICE and overseen by JLL, the project manager, was supposed to start from mid-2023, with the opening set for early next year.
However, only “preliminary development” work has so far been carried out and the future of the investment is highly uncertain after Philip Morris offloaded Vectura, the Chippenham-based company, for an upfront payment of just £150 million last month. The buyer is Molex, a US company that owns the contract development and manufacturing organisation Phillips Medisize.
The Marlboro cigarette maker’s purchase of the UK respiratory drugs company in July 2021, topping a rival offer from the private equity firm Carlyle, triggered a furore. The deal was bitterly opposed by public health leaders as Vectura develops inhalers, including for smoking-related conditions.
The New York-listed Philip Morris lashed out at its critics, blaming “unwarranted opposition” to its diversification away from cigarettes for weakening Vectura’s “scientific engagement and commercial relationships”.
A spokesman for Philip Morris has now blamed the opposition for hindering progress on the inhalation centre.
“While planning permission was granted and preliminary development work progressed, this opposition impacted our plans. The decision on whether to proceed with ICE will rest with the new owners, subject to [the deal] closing,” it said.
A spokesman for Phillips Medisize has declined to comment on the future of the centre, saying it “cannot discuss specific commercial decisions” prior to the acquisition closing.
The deal, which also includes potential deferred payments of up to £148 million, is expected to close by the end of the year.
When planning permission was granted by South Gloucestershire council in 2022, Michael Austwick, then Vectura’s chief executive, said it would build a “world-leading science facility” that would “enable our already successful pharmaceutical company to continue and expand upon its vital work, providing innovative inhalation”.
However, amid fierce opposition from public health organisations, Philip Morris’s acquisition of Vectura suffered a series of setbacks, including the departure of senior executives, including Austwick himself, last year and a $680 million impairment charge.
It led Philip Morris to delay a key target at the time of the takeover to reach more than $1 billion of net revenues for its wellness and healthcare business by 2025.
A coalition of public health bodies, clinicians and charities had written to Vectura’s shareholders and directors at the time of the acquisition to warn that it could “hamper [the company’s] ability to continue operating as a viable, research-oriented business”.
Contacted about the future of the facility, a spokesman for the council remained optimistic the facility could complete in 2026.