A messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) competence center is being built at the Halle Biotech site of German company Wacker Chemie AG (WACKER).
Exyte GmbH is a global design, engineering company that delivers facilities for high-tech industries and is in charge of the site at WACKER.
The project is making a considerable contribution towards strengthening the Biopharma and Life Sciences segment at Exyte as well as to the company’s ambitious Pathway to Ten growth path. The WACKER group concentrates its biopharmaceuticals activities within Wacker Biotech, a full-service provider for microbial manufacturing of pharmaceutical proteins.
To mark the construction work at the site, a breaking of ground ceremony this week (July 5) was held at the site in the Weinberger Campus technology park.
Active ingredients
Active ingredients based on messenger mRNA used in coronavirus vaccines and in medical products for the treatment of cancer amongst others will be manufactured at the new center.
Four new production lines are to be built on 1,600 m2 of a total floor area of 7,400 m2 and part of the capacities will be made available for the German government for its program to prepare for any future pandemics.
The aim of the Centre for Pandemic Vaccines and Therapeutics established by the German Federal Ministry of Health at the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut is to make pandemic vaccines available within a very short time period. This is to avoid bottlenecks in production and distribution of vaccines and thus damage caused by future pandemics.
Wolfgang Büchele, CEO of Exyte, said: “We are delighted to support WACKER in planning, building, and qualifying the new facility with our extensive expertise in the construction of highly complex, high-quality pharmaceutical production facilities. We are making an important contribution towards producing cutting-edge mRNA therapeutics, both for personalized medicine and for the mass market, and are thus driving medical progress.”
Perfect partner
Melanie Käsmarker, managing director at Wacker Biotech GmbH, said: “The manufacture of pharmaceutical actives is subject to the highest standards. As such, the requirements for plant construction are just as high. In Exyte, we have the perfect partner for this project.”
Büchele added: “Biopharma and Life Sciences is a strategic growth segment for us. The demand for pharmaceutical and biotechnological production facilities for manufacturing innovative medical solutions will continue to grow in the future. The WACKER project is an important milestone on our dynamic growth path, our ‘Pathway to Ten’.”
Exyte has set itself ambitious growth targets: with its Pathway to Ten, the company is planning to reach sales of €10 billion ($10,197,600) by 2027. This would be twice the figure for 2021.
The biopharma and life sciences segment is to grow even more rapidly. Last year the division increased its sales by 60 per cent.
Sales to quadruple
Envisaged sales in Biopharma and Life Sciences are to increase by an average of 26 per cent per year until 2027. This means that sales in this segment are to quadruple by 2027 compared to 2021. With sales of €1.5 billion, ($1.53 billion) the segment will then generate 15 per cent of Exyte’s total sales.
Currently, the company is expanding its presence in Europe and the US to this end. Büchele pointed out: “Our high-tech factories enable our customers to deliver innovative products and services that improve the quality of life. Better medical care, faster healing processes, a higher life expectancy – all this facilitated with the support of Exyte.”
He said Exyte draws on extensive and long-standing technical and process engineering expertise in the Biopharma and Life Sciences segment.
The company says it is the preferred partner of its customers in supporting them with the efficient construction of new production facilities and the modernization of existing ones. Customers include global leaders in industries such as biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, specialty and fine chemicals, medical products, consumer care as well as food and diet.