Belgium: acquisition of CAF-DCF by LFB

Les Ulis – July 8, 2016 – According to an agreement signed on July the 1st 2016 between LFB S.A., a French pharmaceutical group, and Sanquin, the Dutch blood supply foundation, LFB has acquired the Belgian company CAF-DCF. The agreement includes the sale in Belgium of medicinal products derived from plasma collected by the Belgian Red Cross.

In 2008, LFB acquired a 24.9% stake in CAF-DCF, thereby becoming a shareholder in this Belgian company alongside the Belgian Red Cross and Sanquin. In 2015, both the Belgian Red Cross and LFB sold their shares to Sanquin, making it the sole shareholder of CAFDCF. On June the 13 2016, CAF-DCF changed its name to Plasma Industries Belgium cvba/scrl. On the same day, the company also proceeded with a partial demerger of its activities on the Belgian market, transferring them to a company which adopted the name CAF-DCF bvba/sprl.

LFB group now holds a new entity in Belgium. This Belgian company is integrating employees who are working in sales and regulatory activities, and is taking over the distribution of 10 plasma-derived medicinal products currently on the market. The company will continue to be provided with plasma collected by Belgian blood establishments mainly run by the Belgian Red Cross. Through the execution of long-term agreements, CAF-DCF contracts out the manufacturing of plasma derivative products to the factory of Neder-over-Heembeek (Brussels), which remains part of the company Plasma Industries Belgium cbva/scrl as well as to other CAF-DCF’s current industrial partners, including LFB. In this regard and in accordance with the already existing close industrial collaboration spanning more than 10 years, LFB is committed to manufacturing and will continue to manufacture clotting factors in its downstream facilities in Lille. These clotting factors are produced from cryoprecipitate drawn from Belgian plasma prepared beforehand in the upstream facilities in Neder-over-Heembeek.

As part of its international strategy, LFB has been establishing subsidiaries in Europe for several years. In Belgium, rather than creating a commercial competitor, LFB decided instead to take advantage of the added value provided by existing CAF-DCF teams. This new company will be led by Leo Hertogs as President and Benjamin Méry as Managing Director.