Bayer to Inject $2B in Pharma Manufacturing Assets

Pharma, health and crop science firm Bayer has committed to investing about €2 billion (around $2.2 billion) over the next three years to bolster its pharmaceutical manufacturing division. During the project, the company will inject funds into its core pharma production sites to increase their biotechnology capabilities, expand cell and gene therapy production, and expand its production site in Berkeley, CA.

Funds will also be used to convert Bayer’s Supply Center in Berlin into a Center of Excellence dedicated to parenterals, and its Supply Center in Leverkusen, Germany will shift to a Center of Excellence for non-hormonal solids. The Supply Center Bergkamen, Germany will be transformed into a Center for Excellence for contrast media and hormone products and feature additional capacity for therapeutics. A Bauer Supply Center in Wuppertal, Germany will focus on launch production and new production technologies.

“These investments into our supply network will support the success of our company’s pharmaceutical business long term,” Dr. Holger Weintritt, head of pharmaceuticals product supply for Bayer and a member of its executive committee, said in a statement. “As an important element of our overall pharmaceutical business strategy we will focus our manufacturing activities on supporting future key areas of growth in which we aim to change the treatment paradigm for patients. All of our company’s technology platforms and modalities will benefit from this investment.”

The company also plans to invest in automation, new technologies, and digitalization in the division.

While Bayer is investing in core parts of its pharmaceuticals business, the firm is also divesting some of its sites and infrastructure that do not fit into its strategic focus. A pharmaceutical plant in São Paulo Cancioneiro, Brazil will be transferred to a new operator and the company plans to transfer some of infrastructure and services at its Bergkamen, Wuppertal, and Berlin sites in Germany to partners.