Novo A/S, the holding company of the Novo Group and a major shareholder in Novo Nordisk and Novozymes, has acquired the Norwegian anti-infectives developer Xellia Pharmaceuticals from the UK private equity group 3i and other current shareholders for approximately US$700 M. Xellia was spun-out from US-based Alpharma in 2008 and has since evolved from a API supplier into a fully integrated speciality pharmaceutical company. The deal will help Xellia to increase its global manufacturing footprint and advance its pipeline of generic anti-infective therapies towards the market.