WuXi Buys Pfizer China Plant
China’s WuXI Biologics has agreed to buy Pfizer’s biologics manufacturing facilities in Hangzhou for an undisclosed price. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2021. The Shanghai-based company said the acquisition will immediately boost its capacities for commercial drug substance (DS) and drug product (DP) capacities to address surging manufacturing demand.
The GMP facilities include two 2,000 liter single-use bioreactors expandable to four 2,000 liter bioreactors, as well as capacities for vial filling and pre-filled syringes. Chris Chen, CEO of WuXi Biologics said DS and DP capacities are in urgent need now globally.
The company added that with total estimated capacity for biopharmaceutical production planned in China, Ireland, Germany, the US and Singapore exceeding 300,000 liters after 2023, it will provide its biomanufacturing partners with a robust and premier-quality global supply chain network.
The agreement with Pfizer follows purchases earlier this year of plants in Switzerland and Germany. The biologics group is also building a biomanufacturing campus in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA, which is scheduled to go into operation in 2022.
In February, WuXi STA agreed to buy Bristol Myers Squibb’s manufacturing facility in Couvet, Switzerland, its first facility in Europe. The transaction is expected to close during the second quarter.
Earlier, WuXi Biologics agreed to purchase Bayer’s biologics substance plant at Wuppertal, Germany, for €150 million. This deal is expected to close in the first half of 2021. In January 2020, the Chinese firm acquired a Bayer plant at Leverkusen, Germany.
Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist
