West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.

This is our first report on West Pharmaceutical Services, a major manufacturer of injectable medication delivery and packaging systems. West Pharmaceutical reported an all-around beat in its last result and generated about 8% growth in organic sales overall. The fact they could grow organically despite a fast evolving pandemic landscape itself is creditable. With COVID-19 excluded, West anticipates that its base organic sales growth was in the low double digits, with proprietary product growth in the mid-teens. The demand for their high-value product offerings for both legacy and recently launched drugs is driving this base growth, and they finished the year with a return to growth in Q4 in contract manufacturing. Contract Manufacturing had net sales growth of 7%, driven by healthcare-related medical device sales. During the quarter, they introduced the Daikyo CZ 2.25 ml insert needle syringe to assist the biologics industry and acquired three more FDA-approved pharmaceuticals using their SmartDose technology. Furthermore, West expanded its collaboration with Corning Incorporated to launch West Ready Pack with Corning Valor RTU Vials utilizing SG EZ-fill technology. We initiate coverage on the stock of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. with a ‘Hold’ rating.