WuXi vaccine manufacturing facility in Ireland gets $3bn contract

Chinese CDMO WuXi Vaccines has signed a 20-year contract worth around $3bn with an undisclosed vaccine company to use a dedicated vaccine manufacturing facility in Ireland to supply commercial vaccine products manufactured from it for the global market.

WuXi Vaccines, which is a joint venture between WuXi Biologics and Shanghai Hile Bio-technology, had announced an investment of $240 million in November 2019 to build the Irish vaccine manufacturing plant.

The WuXi Vaccines vaccine manufacturing facility will house a drug substance manufacturing plant, drug product manufacturing plant, manufacture science and technology labs (MS&T) and also quality control labs.

The vaccine facility, which is likely to begin operations in 2022, will be exclusively used for manufacturing one of its partner’s vaccine products for the world market. It will be located within the WuXi Biologics Campus, near the “Factory of the Future” biologics drug substance manufacturing facility, which is slated to begin commercial manufacturing in 2021.

WuXi vaccine manufacturing facility in Ireland. Photo courtesy of WuXi Biologics.

Dr. Chris Chen – CEO of WuXi Biologics and Chairman of WuXi Vaccines said: “Due to process complexity, extensive analytic testing and rigorous regulatory standards, vaccines are difficult to manufacture and process and quality control are extremely critical for the quality of the product.

“This partnership with a global vaccine leader to exclusively manufacture a vaccine for the global market, first of its kind in the industry, is a further testimony to the technical strengths and premier quality demonstrated by WuXi Vaccines.”