WuXi Biologics is not building a second facility for its recently formed vaccines joint venture but has merely secured the $3 billion contract announced last May.

Dan Stanton, Managing editor

February 21, 2020

2 Min Read
Another WuXi Vaccines deal? No, just a repurposed press release
Image: iStock/Zerbor

Contrary to some reports, WuXi Biologics is not building a second facility for its recently formed vaccines joint venture but has merely secured the $3 billion contract announced last May.

Nine months ago, WuXi Biologics and Shanghai-based Hile Bio-Technology formed WuXi Vaccines, a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) to service a Letter of Intent (LOI) inked with an undisclosed multinational vaccine company.

In November, plans were laid to build a $240 million (€222 million) three-story dedicated manufacturing facility in Dundalk, Ireland to support the project. The site is located within the WuXi Biologics Campus, will create 300 jobs, and when operational – expected in 2022 – will produce 40-60 million vials per year using single-use bioreactors.

press-release-Zerbor-300x198.jpg

Image: iStock/Zerbor

This is old and well-documented news.

But yesterday, WuXi Vaccines published a press release saying it “has entered into a strategic partnership with a global vaccine leader and signed a 20-year vaccine manufacturing contract valued approximately $3 billion USD, pursuant to which WuXi Vaccines will build a dedicated facility and supply a commercial vaccine products for the global market.”

A case of déjà vu for Insider readers, perhaps, but some areas of the media have pounced on this as evidence of this being ‘news’ in a literal sense and even that WuXi Biologics/Vaccines is building another manufacturing plant.

To confirm, we spoke with WuXi Biologics and CEO Chris Chen told us the $3 billion contract in the latest press release is indeed the same as that cited in May. The ‘new’ element is that a “strategic partnership” has now been formed with the undisclosed vaccine developer, a progression from the letter of intent (LOI) signed in May.

About the Author(s)

Dan Stanton

Managing editor

Journalist covering the international biopharmaceutical manufacturing and processing industries.


Founder and editor of Bioprocess Insider, a daily news offshoot of publication Bioprocess International, with expertise in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors, in particular, the following niches: CROs, CDMOs, M&A, IPOs, biotech, bioprocessing methods and equipment, drug delivery, regulatory affairs and business development.


From London, UK originally but currently based in Montpellier, France through a round-a-bout adventure that has seen me live and work in Leeds (UK), London, New Zealand, and China.

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