Bavarian Nordic invests in vaccine production facility
Danish biopharmaceutical company Bavarian Nordic has entered into an agreement with Orion Pharma to acquire the Finnish pharmaceutical company's production facility and administrative offices located in Kvistgaard, Denmark.
Danish biopharmaceutical company Bavarian Nordic has entered into an agreement with Orion Pharma to acquire the Finnish pharmaceutical company's production facility and administrative offices located in Kvistgaard, Denmark.
Bavarian Nordic is to invest around US$40m to redesign the site for vaccine production with a capacity to produce up to 120 million doses per year, making Bavarian Nordic one of the largest vaccine producers in Europe. The new vaccine facility is expected to come on stream in 2005 and initially will produce vaccines against smallpox for the US and European markets along with various planned vaccines against HIV.
Bavarian Nordic's proprietary core technology MVA-BN. Several MVA-BN-based HIV and smallpox vaccines are in clinical Phase I and Phase II trials. The company's production partnership with the German vaccine manufacturer IDT will continue and be expanded due to the expected increase demand for vaccines against smallpox and HIV in the coming years.
'Over the last year, we have evaluated several international options in the US, Canada, Germany, France and Sweden. However, the site in Kvistgaard offers significant advantages as it is relatively new, is perfect in terms of size and design and offers unique conditions in relation to our need for a qualified workforce,' said Peter Wulff, ceoand president.
Bavarian Nordic currently has facilities in Munich, Berlin and Copenhagen. The company will move its headquarters and administrative functions to Kvistgaard while the clinical trial materials facility will remain in Berlin. The company also has plans over the next year to significantly strengthen its research organisation in Munich.