WuXi Biologics Completes Three Acquisition Deals to Meet Global Biologics Demands

Since 2020, WuXi Biologics has acquired two manufacturing sites and a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO), CMAB Biopharma Group (CMAB), to meet up the global surging demand under the pandemic. On May 7th, the Shanghai-based firm announced the completion of the three deals.

WuXi Biologics expected the acquired facilities to begin operation in 2021 and increase the global capacity to 150,000 liters by the end of 2021.

“With a total of 33 DS and DP facilities planned in 5 countries globally, we will continue to manufacture high-quality biologics and deliver them in a timely manner through our robust manufacturing capacity and resilient supply chains for the benefit of patients worldwide,” CEO of WuXi Biologics Dr. Chris Chen stated.

The CMAB Acquisition

China-based CMAB focuses on services such as cell-line development, process development to clinical GMP manufacturing. The acquisition was announced in mid-March, along with two CDMO facilities (MFG21/DP11) that are expected to increase 7,000L DS and DP capacity for liquid and lyophilization fill. Currently, CMAB is the wholly-owned subsidiary of WuXi Biologics and was renamed as WuXi Biologics (Suzhou).

Manufacturing Sites in Germany and China

In addition to the CMAB buyout, WuXi Biologics also snatched two production sites since 2020; one from Bayer and the other from Pfizer China.

Located in Wuppertal, Germany, the plant (MFG19) acquired from Bayer was bought for $183.3 million (€150 million) in December 2020. It is around 30,000 square meters and equipped with 3x1000L perfusion and 6x2000L fed-batch capacity with independent downstream suites. It complements WuXi Biologics’s Leverkusen plant (DP7) to deliver more COVID-19 vaccines and biologics.

WuXi Biologics also acquired manufacturing facilities (MFG20/DP9/DP10) from Pfizer. The site was located in Hangzhou, China, and was built to manufacture biologics for Pfizer in the first place. The site is 50,000 square meters, including DS capacities equipped with 2x2000L single-use bioreactors expandable to 4x2000L (MFG20) and DP capacities of vial filling (DP9) and pre-filled syringe (DP10).

“We’re excited to complete these significant deals with Bayer, Pfizer, and CBC Group and are glad to welcome the highly skilled talents to our WuXi Biologics family,” CEO of WuXi Biologics Dr. Chris Chen announced.

Related Article: Pfizer Sells Manufacturing Facilities in China to WuXi Biologics

Author

Tyler Chen

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