As of November 1, 2018, the pharmaceutical protein production facility in the Netherlands acquired by WACKER with its takeover of SynCo Bio Partners Luxembourg will be renamed Wacker Biotech. The site in Amsterdam for the manufacture of biopharmaceuticals, live microbial products and vaccines, as well as the associated business, was acquired by WACKER in April 2018.

“Changing the name to Wacker Biotech is the next key step in integrating SynCo Bio Partners into the WACKER Group. The pre-viously separate companies are now also united by a common name, and represent a new, strong partner in microbial contract manufac-turing,” says Dr Susanne Leonhartsberger, managing director of Wacker Biotech GmbH.

“This is also an important mile-stone for the staff in Amsterdam. The name change clearly displays their affiliation to WACKER,” adds Dr. Jörg Lindemann, managing director of Wacker Biotech.

The production site in Amsterdam employs some 110 people and has two fermentation lines, a further line with single-use fermenters and a fill-and-finish facility. These manufacture pharmaceutical actives not only for clinical testing, but also for the commercial market.

“With the acquisition of SynCo Bio Partners, we have strengthened our market position as a manufacturer of biopharmaceutical proteins in the long term,” says Leonhartsberger.

The WACKER Group has thus expanded its technology and service portfolio, as well as its options for the cost-efficient production of biopharmaceutical proteins. The acquisition has furthermore doubled WACKER’s production capacity for pharmaceutical actives. SynCo Bio Partners’ expertise in manufacturing live microbial biopharmaceuticals is a valuable complement to WACKER’s know-how as a full-service supplier. Live microbial products represent a promising new class of actives, offering innovative therapies for serious illnesses and new vaccines against diseases such as cholera. Industry experts forecast an average growth rate of 13.8% for the global biologics market until 2025.