Otsuka Pharmaceutical and ICU Medical have entered a strategic partnership to strengthen the supply of intravenous (IV) solutions in North America. This collaboration aims to address existing shortages and improve the reliability of IV solution availability for healthcare providers. By combining Otsuka's pharmaceutical expertise with ICU Medical's manufacturing capabilities, the partnership seeks to enhance production efficiency and ensure a consistent supply of essential IV products across the region.

The following article originally appeared in Fierce Pharma.

Otsuka’s IV solutions subsidiary, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Factory, is breaking into the North American market with the help of a new partner in ICU Medical. The two companies will join forces to bolster IV solution supply amid ongoing supply chain struggles.

For the partnership, medical device maker ICU will join its North American production and distribution expertise, along with its IV pumps and consumables know-how, with Otsuka’s IV solution and manufacturing technology in use at 16 production sites across Asia.

ICU will provide commercial services to allow for “seamless operations” for customers, the companies said in a joint press release (PDF). Otsuka will pay an upfront payment of approximately $200 million as well as performance-based milestones at the end of 2026 and other financial considerations in later years.

The partnership should be operationally effective in the second quarter of 2025 and will form one of the largest global IV solutions manufacturing networks, producing an estimated 1.4 billion units annually, the companies said in the release. Over the long run, the companies aim to secure FDA approvals to bring IV solutions made at Otsuka's overseas sites to North America.

“Entering the North American market has always been part of our long-term ambition, and this joint venture with ICU Medical is the perfect way to do that,” the Otsuka subsidiary’s president and representative director, Shuichi Takagi, said in the release.

ICU Medical, meanwhile, considers Otsuka the “ideal partner” because of its scale, experience with U.S. partnerships and “demonstrated long-term investment horizon,” CEO Vivek Jain noted.

U.S. IV solution supply continuity took a major hit this year when Hurricane Helene damaged Baxter International’s production site in Marion, North Carolina. Before the storm, the company supplied 60% of the United States' IV fluids, the Department of Health and Human Services said in a briefing. The damage prompted Baxter to initiate a sweeping importation plan that will bring nearly 18,000 tons of product from Europe and Asia to the U.S. by the end of the year.

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