Acquisition Strenghtens Wacker’s Biologics Activities

14-Nov-2013 - Germany

Wacker Biotech GmbH, a subsidiary of Wacker Chemie AG, is acquiring a production site for bioengineered pharmaceutical proteins (biologics) – including the associated business – from BioNet Ventures GmbH.

WACKER’s acquisition covers the assets of Scil Proteins Production at the SCIL site in Halle, eastern Germany, including the patent portfolio. WACKER will be continuing Scil Proteins Production’s existing customer partnerships. The Munich-based chemical group will also retain the SCIL staff. The transaction is expected to close early next year.

Founded in 2005, Scil Proteins Production has some 80 employees and operates a fermenter in Halle (eastern Germany) with a capacity of up to 1,500 liters. Pharmaceutical actives can be produced in this fermenter for clinical trials and for market supply. Complying with “Good Manufacturing Practice” (GMP) quality regulations, the facilities already have the approval of the European Medicines Agency for the manufacture of an approved therapeutic protein. Approval by the US Food and Drug Administration is expected soon.

The protein-refolding expertise held by Scil Proteins Production significantly complements WACKER’s know-how in its role as a full-service provider for the microbial manufacture of biologics. For proteins that cannot be produced in an active form in bacterial cells, refolding is a key technology in order to achieve the desired protein in the active form.

“We see the acquisition as a crucial step towards extending our service to customers to cover the market-supply phase following approval of customer drugs more adequately,” announced Dr. Gerhard Schmid, President of the WACKER BIOSOLUTIONS business division. “Our partners’ various pharmaceutical projects, which we have proactively supported during preclinical and clinical development, are about to be launched on the market. Expanding our production capacities in this way comes at an ideal time for both ourselves and our customers. Additionally, SCIL’s refolding expertise complements our own technology platforms and extends the range of services that we offer as a leading contract manufacturer of biopharmaceutical proteins with microbial technologies,” Schmid explained.

https://www.bionity.com/en/news/145794/acquisition-strenghtens-wackers-biologics-activities.html