BioNTech Establishes APAC Regional Headquarters
Former Novartis plant will become mRNA manufacturing facility, the first in Singapore
BioNTech has entered into an agreement with Novartis to acquire one of its good manufacturing practice (GMP)-certified manufacturing facilities. The acquisition is part of the company’s expansion strategy to strengthen its global footprint in Asia. The facility will serve as BioNTech’s regional headquarters and become its first mRNA manufacturing facility in Singapore.
The plant will create regional manufacturing capacities in support of BioNTech’s growing pipeline of mRNA-based vaccines and therapeutics across the Asia Pacific (APAC) region for both commercial and clinical scale, with the potential to expand the production to other drug classes, including cell therapies.
It will be prepared to manufacture a range of mRNA-based product candidates, along with authorized vaccines and therapeutics for infectious diseases. This may include the company’s COVID-19 vaccine, as well as oncology product candidates if successfully developed and approved or authorized by regulatory authorities.
“We are excited to be moving a step closer to expanding our global manufacturing network to Singapore, supporting production of mRNA-based vaccines and therapeutics for the Asia Pacific region,” says Sierk Poetting, PhD, BioNTech’s COO. “The acquisition gives us the opportunity to accelerate the establishment of a state-of-the-art mRNA manufacturing facility and thus to create capacity more quickly for potential clinical studies and commercial supply of our mRNA vaccines and therapeutics for the region.”
Read more about the acquisition here.
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