Pfizer Sells Manufacturing Facilities in China to WuXi Biologics

(Photo/ WuXi Biologics)

Shanghai-based WuXi Biologics has recently expanded its manufacturing power by acquiring facilities from Bayer, building sites in Ireland and signing leases in the US. WuXi has now continued the trend in 2021. Right after acquiring Bayer’s plant in Germany at the end of 2020, WuXi has now snatched another deal with Pfizer and has gained manufacturing facilities and labor force in Hangzhou, China.

Manufacturing Sites Intended for Biosimilar Production

WuXi Biologics will secure state-of-the-art facilities spanning 50,000 square meters, including Drug Substance (DS) capacities equipped with 2x2000L single-use bioreactors expandable to 4x2000L (MFG20) and Drug Product (DP) capacities of vial filling (DP9) and pre-filled syringe (DP10). According to Reuters, Pfizer plans to use the sites to manufacture 3 biosimilars for China.

The acquisition is expected to substantially enhance the DS and DP capacities, allowing WuXi Biologics to handle soaring market demands. What’s more, the upgrade will solidify WuXi’s place in China’s pharma market as the deal is scheduled to close in the first half of 2021. The financial details of the transaction has not been disclosed yet.

Two Manufacturing Deals from Bayer

Looking back, WuXi Biologics has made several bargains in recent years to upgrade its manufacturing power. Two deals were made with Bayer for the manufacturing plants in Leverkusen and Wuppertal, Germany in the beginning and the end of 2020 respectively.

The Wuppertal facility was worth 183 million (€150 million) while the Leverkusen facility was considered the first drug product facility in Europe that complemented WuXi’s existing commercial manufacturing capacities.

Facility Establishment in the US

WuXi Biologics also signed a 10 year contract in June 2020 for a clinical manufacturing facility (MFG18) in Cranbury, New Jersey, which provided 6000 L bioreactors, process development (PD), quality control (QC) labs.

Before that, it completed a land agreement with the Worcester Business Development Corporation (WBDC) to build a 107,000-square-foot clinical and commercial manufacturing facility in Massachusetts and a lease of a 33,000-square-foot site to construct a process development lab in Pennsylvania.

Investment in Vaccine Production

In 2019, WuXi Biologics’ subsidiary WuXi Vaccines invested 240 million to establish a vaccine manufacturing facility in Ireland to provide vaccines for the global market.

Related Article: WuXi Biologics Acquires Bayer’s Drug Manufacturing Facility in Wuppertal

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Author

Tyler Chen

"Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died."- Erma Bombeck