BIA reacts to sale of Vaccine Manufacturing Innovation Centre (VMIC)

Catalent have announced this morning that they have acquired the Vaccine Manufacturing Innovation Centre, in Harwell Oxford.

Steve Bates OBE, Chief Executive of the BioIndustry Association (BIA) and former member of the Vaccine Taskforce (2020) said:

“I welcome Catalent’s purchase of the VMIC facility, they have the track record of, and ability to, invest further in the site and team for years to come. Through this process a significant US manufacturer has been brought into the UK bioprocessing ecosystem.

"Significant additional private and public sector vaccine manufacturing capability is coming online in the next few years in the UK.  The UK already has more capability than was identified at the start of the pandemic in early 2020 which can support future global pandemic responses and the creation of other innovative therapies and medicines for the benefit of patients."

1. Notable investments into UK manufacturing since the pandemic:

• Tokyo headquartered Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies announced an incredible £400m investment in Billingham, doubling the site’s existing development and manufacturing footprint, which will be a key component of the Novavax UK supply chain.
• Pfizer’s deal with Thermofisher in Swindon to fill finish their vaccine will add significant capacity to Pfizer’s global network.
• Wockhardt have recently announced a deal with the Serum Institute of India to build a new fill and finish site in Wrexham. 
• The Government recently announced a £15.9 million investment into Croda’s Staffordshire facility to increase the UK’s capacity of lipids, which are used to create lipid nanoparticles which are a crucial component of mRNA vaccines and therapies.
• Cytiva made a £300m investment into a new manufacturing facility in Cardiff which has opened in the last few months.
• The new Cell and Gene Manufacturing Innovation Centre (CGMIC) in Braintree will have the capability to create mRNA vaccines if required. 
• CPI in Darlington has had investments for an mRNA library and mRNA training academy, as well as a GMP facility to manufacture vaccines