“Acquiring ADL BioPharma is an important step in the continued growth of our biotechnology business, with which we expect to generate one billion euros in sales in 2030,” says WACKER’s CEO Christian Hartel, explaining the reasons for the investment. “Development at ADL BioPharma has been very good in recent years, and their sales have grown considerably. The additional fermentation capacities will provide a foundation for growth in the field of sustainably produced dietary ingredients. WACKER’s technological expertise combined with the capacities of ADL BioPharma will make us a much stronger player on this growth market.”
WACKER BIOSOLUTIONS, the life science business of the WACKER Group, has operated fermentation plants at the León site for the past seven years. In 2016, WACKER acquired from ADL BioPharma production assets with a fermentation capacity of 800 cubic meters (gross volume). WACKER has since produced fermentation-based cystine in León, offering its services as a contract manufacturing organization. Following this acquisition, the Munich-based chemical group upgraded the existing facilities and invested in additional production equipment. The company also created some 60 new jobs at the site, quadrupling the number of employees.
The acquisition of ADL BioPharma now makes WACKER owner of the entire plant, with total fermentation capacities of just under 3,000 cubic meters (gross volume). Susanne Leonhartsberger, head of the WACKER BIOSOLUTIONS business division, outlines the plans that WACKER has for the site: “ADL BioPharma’s CMO business is a very good fit for our portfolio. The company maintains extensive, extraordinarily important customer relationships that we will continue to pursue and expand still further. We will integrate these activities into WACKER BIOSOLUTIONS, for example through the production of sustainable ingredients for the foods and nutritional supplements industries. This is an area where we foresee opportunities for growth at the León site in the coming years. We are happy to welcome our new colleagues into the company and plan to work with them on the continuous expansion of our business.”
About ADL BioPharma
Its over 60 years of experience in the biotechnology industry makes ADL BioPharma a globally leading contract manufacturing organization for high-quality fermentation products. The company’s predecessor Antibióticos, S.A. – a pioneer in the manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) – was founded in León in 1954. In 2014, the company was reorganized. Today, ADL BioPharma features comprehensive expertise in process development and production scale-up of sustainably manufactured fermentation products for a variety of markets and industries. Its portfolio includes flavorings and fragrances, pharmaceutical actives and ingredients for food, personal care and cosmetics products. With plant facilities covering some 55,000 square meters, fermentation capacities of roughly 2,000 cubic meters, plus additional capacity for recovery and purification processes, ADL BioPharma is one of Europe’s largest contract manufacturing plants for fermentation-based biotechnology products. The overall site covers an area of just under 150,000 square meters. Its roughly 300 employees make ADL BioPharma one of the largest employers in the León region.
About WACKER BIOSOLUTIONS
Based on advanced biotech processes, WACKER BIOSOLUTIONS offers tailored and innovative solutions and products for the life-science sector, including pharmaceutical proteins, cyclodextrins and fermentation-generated L-cysteine. The portfolio is additionally complemented with catalog chemicals such as acetylacetone. The division focuses on solutions for growth sectors, such as food ingredients, pharmaceutical actives and agrochemicals. WACKER BIOSOLUTIONS is the Munich-based WACKER Group’s life-sciences division. For further information, visit wacker.com
