MMC has invested £500,000 in PharmAssess, an independent auditor providing supplier audit reports to the pharmaceutical industry.  This marks MMC's 18th new investment.

Press Release 

MMC invests £0.5 million in PharmAssess

MMC Ventures (MMC), a venture capital firm investing in growth companies, today announced that it has invested £0.5million in PharmAssess, an independent auditor providing supplier audit reports to the pharmaceutical industry.

PharmAssess was established in 2005 to provide pharmaceutical companies with regular, independent and thorough audits in response to EU Directive 2004/27/EC introduced in November 2005, which states that pharmaceutical companies must audit their suppliers to ensure they are producing Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) to the right specifications under appropriate manufacturing conditions.

PharmAssess provides pharmaceutical companies with a solution for meeting EU regulations, whilst eliminating the cost of establishing an in-house auditing team. With a large number of API suppliers’ factories based in India, PharmAssess can also provide a more costly and time effective solution to pharmaceutical companies.

PharmAssess’s unique business model also responds to the needs of API suppliers to minimise the disruption and costs associated with hosting multiple audits from pharmaceutical companies. By recommending independent PharmAssess audits, API suppliers can reduce the number of auditors they host.

This investment from MMC will allow PharmAssess to increase the rate at which the Company audits manufacturers, with particular focus on India, as it builds its audit library of API suppliers. The market opportunity can be gauged from the fact that globally there are an estimated 3,500 pharmaceutical companies, each using on average 25 suppliers. 

Ben Richardson, who led the investment for MMC, said: “PharmAssess is well positioned to exploit the huge market opportunities. They are expanding fast and have already established contracts with some leading pharmaceutical manufacturers. Our investment will enable them to increase their contract wins and accelerate their growth.”

“We very much welcome the investment from MMC Ventures,” commented John Sullivan, CEO of PharmAssess. “For the last two years we have been at the development stage of our business, and now we have the potential to accelerate our growth ahead of potential competition.  MMC Ventures has proven to be the ideal investment partner to help us develop the PharmAssess brand into a global leader, as their knowledge of the health care sector and their commitment to understanding our complex market have proved invaluable.”

Ends

Notes for Editors:

PharmAssess is owned by Rephine Plc based in Canterbury and was incorporated in November 2005.

Steve Stocks (Chairman)

Steve has 26 years’ experience in the Pharmaceutical industry, including as a board member of ABPI, Rhone Poulenc and Chiesi. Steve has international experience and has been involved in a start up, two acquisitions, a management buy out and a company sale.

John Sullivan (CEO)

John has 36 years’ experience in the Pharmaceutical industry at companies including GlaxoSmithKline, Ciba-Geigy and Rhone Poulenc (where he met and worked with Steve Stocks).  As a Qualified Person (QP), John understands the importance of rigour in audits – a Qualified Person is personally liable when signing off on active pharmaceutical ingredients (there are approximately 1500 QPs in the UK). John has experience of constructing and managing plants in the UK, SA, Nigeria and Zambia.

MMC Ventures Ltd (MMC) is a venture capital firm which invests in fast-growing young companies where it believes it can add value and help accelerate that growth.  It has substantial capital available through managed Funds and a Syndicate of over 50 experienced business angel investors who provide mentor capital to portfolio companies. MMC is a generalist investor with a particular interest in healthcare, financial services, technology and business support services due to its focus on growth.  Founded in 2000, MMC has made 18 investments, two have exited on AIM and a third via trade sale.  It seeks to make two to four new investments each year in companies requiring initial funding of £500,000 to £5 million, and has the capacity to follow its money in further rounds of funding.  For further information: www.mmcventures.com