View source for Vectura Group

{{Short description|British pharmaceuticals company}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2014}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Vectura Group Limited
| logo = Vectura Group logo.svg
| type = [[Subsidiary]]
| foundation = 1997
| location = {{nowrap|[[Chippenham]], England, UK}}
| num_locations = 5 (2019)
| key_people = Bruno Angelici, [[Chair (official)|Chairman]]<br>Will Downie, ([[CEO]])
| industry = [[Pharmaceutical industry|Pharmaceuticals]]
| products = 
| revenue = {{increase}} £190.6 million (2020)<ref name=results>{{cite web|url=https://files.q4europe.com/news-pdf/460968/VecturaIntranet_15002670.pdf|title=Annual Results 2020|publisher=Vectura Group|access-date=18 March 2021}}</ref>
| operating_income = {{increase}} £132.8 million (2020)<ref name=results/>
| net_income = {{increase}} £122.4 million (2020)<ref name=results/>
| num_employees = 450 (2021)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vectura.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/JPM-2021-Presentation.pdf|title=Executing on our inhaled specialist CDMO strategy|date=14 January 2021|publisher=Vectura Group|access-date=3 March 2021}}</ref>
| parent = [[Philip Morris International]]
| subsid = 
| website = {{Official URL}}
| footnotes = 
}}

'''Vectura Group Limited''' is a British [[pharmaceutical industry|pharmaceuticals]] company based in [[Chippenham]], England which develops inhaled medicines and makes [[inhaler]] devices. The company was listed on the [[London Stock Exchange]] until it was acquired by [[Philip Morris International]] in September 2021.

==History==
The company was formed in 1997 at the [[University of Bath]] as a start-up pharmaceuticals business.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=About us |url=https://jobs.vectura.com/about-us |access-date=2022-06-16 |website=Vectura}}</ref> In 1999 it acquired Co-ordinated Drug Development and the Centre for Drug Formulation Studies.<ref name=":1">{{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}}</ref> The company moved from the university campus to a site at Chippenham in 2002.<ref name=":0" /> In 2004 it was listed on the [[Alternative Investment Market]].<ref name=":0" /> In 2006 it acquired Innovata Biomed plc, another developer of [[Lung|pulmonary]] products,<ref>{{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}}</ref> and then moved onto the full list of the London Stock Exchange.<ref name=":1" /> It acquired Activaero, a German manufacturer in the same sector, for £108{{Nbsp}}million in March 2014.<ref>{{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}}</ref> In June 2016 Vectura completed a £441{{Nbsp}}million merger with Skyepharma, a maker of devices such as [[asthma inhalers]]; it was announced that the merged company would continue to be known as Vectura.<ref>{{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/|url-status=live|access-date=11 June 2016|website=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|last1=Bradshaw|first1=Julia}}</ref>

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]].<ref>{{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}}</ref>

In July 2021, American tobacco company [[Philip Morris International]] made an offer to buy Vectura Group for £1 billion.<ref>{{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.co.uk/article/philip-morris-buys-respiratory-drugs-company-vectura-for-1bn-9mfts7jxq|access-date=9 July 2021|issn=0140-0460}}</ref> [[The Carlyle Group]], an American private equity firm, also submitted an offer which was £44m lower.<ref>{{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}}</ref> The board subsequently accepted the offer from Philip Morris International<ref>{{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}}</ref> and, in September 2021, the company confirmed that circa 75% of shareholders had supported the takeover.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

==Operations==
Vectura is a developer of inhaled therapies for the treatment of [[respiratory disease]]s.<ref>{{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}}</ref> Since 2019 it has operated as a [[contract development and manufacturing organization]] (CDMO), helping other companies bring inhaled medicines to market.<ref name=":0" />

The headquarters and development facility at Chippenham, on a mixed industrial site on the outskirts of the town, employs around 250 {{As of|2022|lc=y}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chippenham |url=https://jobs.vectura.com/our-locations/chippenham |access-date=2022-06-16 |website=Vectura}}</ref> There are also development sites at [[Cambridge]], [[Muttenz]] (Basel, Switzerland) and [[Gauting]] (Germany).<ref name=":0" /> 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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website}}

{{Pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry in the United Kingdom}}
{{Philip Morris International}}

[[Category:2021 mergers and acquisitions]]
[[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]]