Actavis Group, the international generic pharmaceuticals company, has signed an agreement with Pfizer to acquire a manufacturing site specialising in the production of oncology products. The site, which covers an area of 300,000 square metres, is located in the township of Nerviano, approximately 30km from Milan, and employs around 340 permanent staff.

Separately, Actavis has entered into a multi-year exclusive agreement with Pfizer for the supply of oncology products.

The Nerviano site was originally developed and founded by Farmitalia in 1965. It is approved by the US Food and drug administration (FDA), European Union (EU) and Japanese regulatory authorities, and has broad manufacturing capabilities serving 70 markets around the world.

Actavis plans to develop new products and transfer existing products into Nerviano over the coming years and the site will work very closely with Actavis' Bucharest operation, which also develops and manufactures oncology products.

The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of the month subject to clearance by Italian competition authorities and consultation with trade unions.