Announcement

UPM announces plans to close UPM Biomedicals business and its GrowDex®, FibDex®, and FibGel™ product lines.

Dear Customer,

UPM has, on February 5, 2025, announced plans to close its Biomedicals business.

UPM Biomedicals has been among the new business ventures in which UPM has invested over the past 15 years. The products offer superior sustainability performance compared to existing alternatives and have generated interest in addressed markets. However, the business has been unable to demonstrate the potential to scale and achieve sufficient business results, and a continuation of the business growth strategy within UPM would require disproportionate resources.

The main limiting factors for the commercial scale-up are the higher resource commitments needed to meet the increasing regulatory requirements and to accelerate market adoption of our technology, which have pushed a potential payback further into the future. An attempt to sell the business, including the related IPR portfolio, has so far not been successful.

UPM will begin the consultation process for its Finnish operations and will engage in discussions with employees in other countries affected by this planned change in line with local legal requirements. This process is estimated to last for at least 6-8 weeks. A final decision can only be taken after concluding the consultation process. We appreciate your understanding of the obligations we have towards our employees to run a fair consultation process.

We understand your concerns regarding the upcoming period of uncertainty. During this time, our employees will put in their best effort to support our customers. We are available to discuss any specific questions you may have. Once the employee consultation process has been concluded, final decisions will be taken, and discussions with all customers will be initiated if needed to find the best solutions.

Thank you for being a valuable customer and for your support, also regarding these communicated plans.

Kind regards,
UPM Biomedicals