On 06 April 2021 the foundation stone was laid for the new multifunctional vaccine production building 203 at the IDT site in Biopharmapark Dessau. In direct vicinity to building 205, inaugurated in the summer of 2019, it is IDT’s response to the increased demand for the production of active ingredients on the market.
Overall, a total of 100 million euros are currently being invested in the site. In direct vicinity to the new building a further state-of-the-art filling line is being established.
The new vaccine production building comprises five production rooms with fermenters for up 2,000 liters. This will enable IDT Biologika to produce active ingredients for two to five million vaccine doses per week, which corresponds to ten times the current capacity.
CEO Dr. Jürgen Betzing says: “The past months have seen a rapid rise in the requirement for vaccine production worldwide. With this extensive investment we are continuing along our path to growth and in the process creating space for capacity and innovations that are urgently required on the global market.“
The plan is also to construct the second new building in record time. The construction of the first vaccine building was already completed in just 2 years from the investment decision of the management board to manufacturing approval, instead of the three to four years typically required.
This short construction time for the specific complexity of the pharmaceuticals sector is the achievement of a reliable, core team of 20 highly specialized employees from IDT and TEW, the site services provider at Biopharmapark Dessau. A further key role is played by the planning partners, who are working together to achieve the targeted manufacturing approval in early 2023. Speaking on their behalf, Thilo Mehlhase, CEO of PBM architects, addressed the special circumstances of running a construction site during a pandemic and declared his confidence that the targeted goal for beginning production could be met. “The short construction time calls for an extraordinary degree of interaction from all actors involved in these unusual times. We have gathered together outstanding companies for the realization of the project for IDT and are both proud and grateful that we can contribute to expanding capacity at the Dessau site.”
The CEO of IDT Biologika, Dr. Jürgen Betzing, was also visibly confident: “The challenges currently facing our sector are enormous. With the new investment we are responding to the requirements of the market and will soon be able to assist our customers as a globally active contract manufacturer considerably faster and more flexibly. IDT and Biopharmapark Dessau with its further partners on-site are on the way to becoming one of the biopharmaceuticals centers at the heart of Europe. This makes the employees, the company, the Klocke family and also me, very proud.”
The lowering of the time capsule marked the starting shot for one of the largest investments of IDT.