Leiden-based generic drugs maker InnoGenerics will have a restart after all and is being taken over by Ofichem Groep, which supplies raw materials for the medicines industry.

The health ministry is also supporting the restart with a €400,000 guarantee and  €150,000 in additional support, health minister Ernst Kuipers said.

Kuipers said earlier this month that the bankruptcy of the biggest Dutch generic medicine maker may have an impact on the supply of some types of drugs in several months time.

InnoGenerics produces medicines which are out of patent for a wide range of ailments, including heart problems, diabetes, depression and epilepsy. In total, the company manufactured some three billion pills a year.

The company had faced closure in 2019 because it was not profitable, but the Dutch government intervened, saying it is important that the Netherlands has its own generic drug production capacity.

The company was taken over by two Dutch entrepreneurs with government help – a loan of €6.7 million according to the Financieele Dagblad.

The factory has been supported by the government since then but in October, the cabinet and outside investors said they would not give the company a new financial injection.

Kuipers said the takeover will not eradicate the shortage of some drugs.