WuXi Snaps Up Bayer's Final Drug Manufacturing Plant in Germany

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--China's pharmaceutical company WuXi Biologics continues its push into Europe following a deal to take over the operations of one of Bayer's final drug product manufacturing plants at the company's headquarters in Leverkusen, Germany.

It will be the first drug product facility in Europe to complement WuXi's existing commercial manufacturing operations. WuXi will purchase the associated equipment, in combination with a long-term lease contract for the building, for an undisclosed sum. The plant will be operated by WuXi and also serve as a back-up site for the final product manufacturing of Bayer's Kovaltry, an anti-haemophilic factor (recombinant). The transaction is expected to be concluded in the coming months.

"We are excited to sign this acquisition agreement with Bayer, allowing us to have quick access to high quality drug product manufacturing capacities and capabilities," said Dr. Chris Chen, chief executive officer of WuXi Biologics. "Our business in EU, U.S. and China market has experienced robust growth in the past few years. This additional drug product plant further confirms our commitment to 'Global Dual Sourcing within WuXi Biologics' strategy. WuXi Biologics will continue to expand our worldwide capacity, providing global partners with a robust and premier-quality supply chain network to benefit patients worldwide."

WuXi Biologics is China's leading biologics services company, with 63.5% market share in terms of revenue in 2017. It is aiming for a total estimated capacity for biopharmaceutical production in China, Ireland, Singapore, and the U.S. in excess of 280,000 litres by 2022.

Last November, WuXi Biologics announced that its subsidiary WuXi Vaccines, engaged in the human vaccine contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) business, was investing $240 million to build a new vaccine manufacturing facility in Dundalk, Ireland. The investment followed a 20-year manufacturing Letter of Intent (LOI) signed by WuXi Vaccines earlier that year. The dedicated vaccine manufacturing facility, including drug substance manufacturing (MFG15), drug product manufacturing (DP5) as well as Quality Control labs (QC), will supply a vaccine product by a large, unnamed pharma company for the global market. The company is already in the middle of constructing what it termed "the world's largest biologics contract manufacturing facility using single-use and flexible scale-out production technology" at the Dundalk site. Industrial Info is tracking all of the key WuXi projects in Ireland.

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