The agent contains lipids that are also manufactured by Essen-based Evonik.
(Photo: dpa)
Dusseldorf Evonik AG is once again investing heavily in its business as a pharmaceutical supplier. The specialty chemicals group will build a new large-scale plant in the USA for the production of lipids for mRNA medicine. The plant will cost $220 million and is scheduled to start operations in 2025, Evonik announced on Thursday.
The Essen-based company is already one of the major suppliers of pharmaceutical lipids. These are fats that, like a suitcase, carry the drug safely through the human body to the desired location. These lipids are widely used in the Covid-19 vaccines from Biontech and Moderna, which are based on the new mRNA technology.
Evonik intends to benefit overall from the expected boom in this mRNA technology. The lipid nanoparticles (LNP) have proven themselves when using the Covid vaccines: They transport the blueprint for parts of the corona virus into human cells, where they are then produced. This triggers an immune response in the body that prepares it for an actual infection with the corona virus.
In the course of the billions of Covid vaccinations, the production of these nanolipids and other additives has become good business for pharmaceutical suppliers worldwide. This has also developed into a growth driver at Darmstadt-based Merck KGaA.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
Manufacturers expect that mRNA technology will conquer several significant other therapeutic areas in medicine after the Covid vaccines. This includes fighting cancer. Biontech currently has several research projects on this. The mRNA technology is also to be used to combat other infectious diseases.
Important driver for the Nutrition & Care division
For Evonik, this business is one of the most important drivers for the expansion of the Nutrition & Care division. It is not known how much sales the group is already generating with so-called drug delivery technologies. Evonik estimates the market potential for lipid nanoparticles at five billion dollars by 2026.
The new plant in the USA will be built at Evonik’s Tippecanoe site in Lafayette, Indiana, and will be heavily subsidized by the US government. Washington is investing a good $150 million in the project through the Barda Medicines Procurement Agency.
Even during the corona pandemic, Evonik expanded the production of LNP for the mRNA vaccines. The existing large plants in Canada and the USA as well as at the German locations in Hanau and Dossenheim near Heidelberg were expanded.
The new multi-purpose plant in the USA is to be designed flexibly for the production of tailor-made lipids. With this, Evonik wants to put itself in a position to serve as many potential areas of application for mRNA medicine as possible. The group recently entered into a multi-year partnership with Stanford University in California to research new LNPs.
More: Vaccination against cancer, tuberculosis or HIV: the mRNA revolution has already begun