Merck KGaA will invest 440 million euros (about $469.3 million) to beef up membrane manufacturing capacity in Carrigtwohill and build a new filtration manufacturing plant at Blarney Business Park, both of which are in Cork, Ireland, the company said Monday.
On Thursday, Merck KGaA’s subsidiary in the United States, MilliporeSigma, revealed the done deal, following regulatory approvals and other clearances, for $780 million. The acquisition is part of Merck KGaA’s effort to expand into the booming mRNA market.
DARMSTADT, Germany, Feb. 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- MilliporeSigma, the U.S. and Canada Life Science business sector of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, today announced the closing of the transaction to acquire Exelead, following regulatory clearances and the fulfillment of other customary closing conditions, for approximately USD 780 million in cash. The business combination is expected to enable the Life Science business to provide its customers with comprehensive end-to-end contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) services across the mRNA value chain. The Life Science business plans to further invest over € 500 million to scale up Exelead's technology over the next ten years.
Exelead, Inc., a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) providing complex medicines to customers and their patients, delivered its first vaccine precursor batch manufactured at its facility, as part of an agreement with Pfizer for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. In its recently expanded, state-of-the-art facilities, Exelead is supporting production of the vaccine by dedicating a portion of its manufacturing capacity to this effort.
For the two leading Covid-19 vaccines, mRNA is the star of the show — and the microscopic lipids used to transport that therapy into cells have taken a much less visible backseat. But that doesn’t mean that delivery tech isn’t in high demand, and now another CDMO is chipping in to help Pfizer/BioNTech’s shot along.
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