A Northumberland pharmaceutical firm has posted widening losses in the year before it was acquired by a Chinese life sciences giant.
Cramlington-based Pharmaron – formerly known as Aesica – focuses on the manufacture and sale of active pharmaceutical ingredients, but said its market continues to be affected by the pandemic, increased competition and increasing production costs. The firm, which employs around 148 people, has published accounts for 2021, showing a drop in revenue and widening losses, with revenues falling from £15.5m to £11.2m, while pre-tax profit tumbled from £7.6m to £1.3m. Operating losses also widened from £3.3m to £13.1m.
In 2019 the company reported an incident which led to the temporary shutdown of activities for some time. While no one was hurt in the incident, at the time the firm said it was expected to wipe £5m off its parent firm’s profits. The new accounts show that the company has now received £4.5m in compensation following an insurance claim over the incident.
