Chinese CDMO WuXi Biologics has sold its vaccine manufacturing facility in Dundalk, Ireland to pharma giant Merck.
The transaction, which will likely close by Q2 2025, will see the site placed under the sole ownership of Merck for USD $500m.
This follows WuXi AppTec's decision to lessen its global operational footprint because of new regulations — particularly the BIOSECURE act.
If the BIOSECURE act is passed, it would prevent all US-based pharmaceutical companies from working alongside Chinese manufacturers such as WuXi Biologics.
This would have a significant impact on WuXi AppTec, as a high proportion of its customer base is currently situated in the US.
The Dundalk site
The Irish facility has been in operation since 2021, and was originally built with help from Merck with an investment of $240m.
It is capable of large-scale vaccine substance and drug product manufacturing, with around 800 employees working on site.
The Dundalk site also contains a quality control laboratory suitable for the testing of various biologic medicines.
Once the $500m is raised, WuXi will utilise this cash to buy back shares, states the company's CEO, Chris Chen.
The CDMO will also construct a new plant in Singapore, allowing it to focus on its client service offerings.
Dr Chen commented: “The world-class facility is designed and built to support MSD’s business growth strategy, and this transaction highlights our capability of building and operating the state-of-the-art complex vaccine manufacturing facilities meeting stringent standards of global vaccine leaders,”
"This transaction will allow MSD to integrate vaccine production more effectively into its global manufacturing network, while also enabling us to enhance our asset efficiency and focus on our CDMO services in Suzhou, China."