药明海德董事长陈智胜博士表示，该工厂采用了世界一流的设计和建造，全面支持我们的合作伙伴默沙东的业务增长战略。本次交易充分证明，我们有能力按照全球疫苗巨头的最高国际标准，建设和运营世界领先的复杂疫苗生产设施。通过本次交易，默沙东能够将疫苗生产更好地融入其全球生产网络。药明海德也能进一步提升其资产效率和利润，聚焦中国苏州基地为客户提供CDMO服务。本次交易的收益可用于进一步提升我们的全球网络，让我们更好地服务全球客户，惠及全球病患，也可用于公司股票回购。WuXi Hyde (WuXi Vaccines) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of WUXI BIO (02269), focusing on contract custom research and development and production (CDMO) for vaccines.
On January 6, WUXI VACCINES announced that it has reached an agreement with Merck regarding its vaccine plant in Ireland. According to the agreement, Merck will acquire WUXI VACCINES' vaccine plant in Ireland, with a total transaction amount of approximately 0.5 billion USD. It is reported that WUXI VACCINES is a wholly-owned subsidiary of WUXI BIO, focused on vaccine contract custom development and manufacturing (CDMO) business.
In 2019, WUXI VACCINES announced an investment by Merck to build a dedicated vaccine plant in Ireland, including drug substance (DS) production, drug product (DP) production, manufacturing technology laboratory (MS&T), and quality control laboratory (QC). This modern plant began focusing on technology transfer in 2022 to produce high-quality vaccines for the Global market. The quality control potency laboratory, with its innovative design, won the 'Large Project of the Year Award' at the 2020 Irish Pharmaceutical Industry Awards and received GMP certification from the Irish Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) in July 2022. The main production facilities of the plant (including formulation, drug substance production facilities, main quality control laboratory, warehouse, and utilities) will undergo GMP certification by the Irish Health Products Regulatory Authority in 2025.
Dr. Chen Zhisheng, Chairman of WUXI VACCINES, stated that the plant employs world-class design and construction, fully supporting our partner Merck's business growth strategy. This transaction fully demonstrates our ability to build and operate world-leading complex vaccine manufacturing facilities according to the highest international standards of Global vaccine giants. Through this transaction, Merck can better integrate vaccine production into its global manufacturing network. WUXI VACCINES can further enhance its asset efficiency and profits, focusing on providing CDMO services for customers at its Suzhou base in China. The proceeds from this transaction can be used to further enhance our Global network, enabling us to better serve global customers and benefit patients worldwide, and can also be used for the company’s Share Buyback.
This transaction is expected to meet routine conditions for completion in the first half of 2025. This transaction has no impact on the biopharmaceutical plant in Ireland or the vaccine plant in Suzhou.
