Qualicaps has acquired Genix Industria Farmaceutica, Brazil’s leading two-piece hard capsule manufacturer with operations located in the pharmaceutical hub of Goais, and commercial activities managed from Sao Paulo.

Qualicaps is a global manufacturer of a complete assortment of two-piece hard capsules and related pharmaceutical processing equipment, belonging to Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation through The Life Sciences Institute, which encompasses its healthcare portfolio of businesses. The acquisition allows the company to expand its global presence from operating sites in Japan, Spain, Romania, Canada and the U.S., to include Brazil.

Through Genix, Qualicaps will serve the pharmaceutical market in Latin America, valued by IMS Health at $72 billion in 2014 and estimated to grow annually at an average of 5-8% through to 2019. The company will become the leading hard capsule manufacturer in the region and the only one with a production site in Brazil, the third largest pharmaceutical market in the Americas after the U.S. and Canada, and eighth in the world. Genix currently supplies a large number of companies operating within the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industry, and accounts for over half of Brazil’s market share in hard capsules.

In addition to a strong customer base, Genix brings to Qualicaps 13 years of experience in hard gelatin capsule manufacturing, and a robust process that is certified for Good Manufacturing Practice and Pharmaceutical Ingredients by ANVISA.

“This acquisition marks a major milestone for Qualicaps in positioning ourselves to provide a more complete coverage for our existing and potential pharmaceutical customers in the region,” said Kent Payne, president, Qualicaps Americas. “We look forward to continuing to accelerate our growth in Brazil and other Latin American countries as part of our overall strategic expansion plan for the Americas.”

The two companies already share an important synergy that enables their integration, as Genix has had a long-standing collaboration with Technophar, a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualicaps that provides the machinery and technology for both companies’ manufacturing processes.