WuXi Biologics, a contract biologics manufacturer, has agreed to acquire Bayer’s biologics drug-substance manufacturing facility in Wuppertal, Germany for EUR 150 million ($183 million).

Under the agreement, the two companies will enter into a long-term sublease agreement and a transitional service contract. Bayer had originally planned to use the facility to produce recombinant factor VIII products. WuXi Biologics intends to use the facility for commercial-scale production to manufacture drug substances for COVID-19 vaccines and other biologics and is planning additional investments in process equipment at the site. The 30,000-square-meter facility includes 3 x 1,000-L perfusion and 6 x 2,000-L fed-batch production capacity with independent downstream suites and is expected to be GMP-ready in late 2021.

The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close in the first half of 2021.

The facility is the second facility that WuXi Biologics is acquiring from Bayer. In April (April 2020), WuXi Biologics completed the acquisition of a drug-product manufacturing plant of Bayer’s in Leverkusen, Germany. WuXi Biologics took over the plant operations, purchased plant equipment, and signed a long-term building lease contract. Equipped with a drug-product filling line, the plant provides sterile filling and freeze-drying of up to 10 million vials per year.

The two facilities are expected to be ready for drug-substance and drug-product manufacturing by 2021.

Source: Bayer and WuXi Biologics