Boehringer Ingelheim launches first veterinary vaccines produced in China

Taizhou, China, 24 January 2019 – Boehringer Ingelheim, the world’s leading animal health company, announces that swine vaccine Ingelvac^® PRRS MLV, produced by its veterinary vaccine manufacturing plant in the China Medical City in Taizhou, Jiangsu Province, is now officially supplied to the China market. Shifting imported vaccines to locally-produced vaccines will help significantly shorten the interval between the plant and animal farms.

In the past, all swine vaccine products for the China market were imported and manufactured at the Boehringer Ingelheim’s plant in the US. Boehringer Ingelheim began building a world-class veterinary vaccine manufacturing plant in Taizhou in 2013, thus demonstrating its commitment to being ’in China, for China’.

Felix Gutsche, Country Managing Director, The Chinese Markets, Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Business Unit

The first phase of the plant, with a total investment of 85 million euros, was completed in 2016. The plant’s manufacturing facilities, production process, quality control system and staffing meet Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards in the EU; in December 2017, the Taizhou plant obtained GMP certification from the Ministry of Agriculture of China.

The annual production capacity of the Taizhou plant reaches 125 million doses, with Ingelvac^® PRRS MLV as the first product made locally.

PRRS (Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome) is a common swine disease that has plagued Chinese farmers for 20 years. It has a high incidence rate of 50-100 per cent¹ and mortality rate of 20-100 per cent¹, making it a key disease that affects the development of China’s swine industry. In May 2012, the General Office of the State Council released the National Medium- and Long-Term Animal Disease Prevention and Control Plan (2012-2020) which specified the targets for PRRS management, that is, by 2020, all breeding farms in China must meet the eradication standards. To meet the challenging goals, immunisation is one of the necessary methods for disease control and eradication.

Dr Stephan Lange, Head of The
Chinese Markets, Boehringer
Ingelheim Animal Health Business Unit

Since its launch in 1994, Ingelvac^® PRRS MLV has been widely used and recognised, with a billion doses consumed globally. It has been proven safe and effective¹, while providing good cross-protection. As a global leader and solution provider for management of PRRS, apart from high-quality Ingelvac^® PRRS MLV, Boehringer Ingelheim has also developed the PRRS 5-Step Process² and other value-added tools, offering customers comprehensive solutions for PRRS management.

Following the localised manufacturing of Ingelvac^® PRRS MLV, in the next three to four years, the Taizhou plant is expected to provide Chinese customers with more swine vaccines, which are either developed by Boehringer Ingelheim in China or brought to China under technology transfers from its US plant.

“China plays a key role in the Boehringer Ingelheim’s animal health business. The investment in the Taizhou plant is one of the major initiatives Boehringer Ingelheim takes to accelerate its localisation strategy in China,” shared Dr Stephan Lange, Head of Animal Health China Mainland, Hongkong, and Taiwan, Boehringer Ingelheim. “The Taizhou plant will be a strategic hub for vaccine production in China. Its official launch and production ramp-up demonstrate our commitment to bringing the entire value chain of R&D, manufacturing and sales in animal health business to China. We hope to become a reliable partner for Chinese producers, and make contribution to improving food safety and securing food supply in China.”

¹https://www.prrs.com/en
²https://www.prrs.com/en/publications/en/5-step-process

Boehringer Ingelheim

Improving the health and quality of life of patients is the goal of the research-driven pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim. The focus in doing so is on diseases for which no satisfactory treatment option exists to date. The company therefore concentrates on developing innovative therapies that can extend patients’ lives. In animal health, Boehringer Ingelheim stands for advanced prevention.

Family-owned since it was established in 1885, Boehringer Ingelheim is one of the pharmaceutical industry’s top 20 companies. Some 50,000 employees create value through innovation daily for the three business areas human pharmaceuticals, animal health and biopharmaceuticals. In 2017, Boehringer Ingelheim achieved net sales of nearly 18.1 billion euros. R&D expenditure, exceeding three billion euros, corresponded to 17.0 per cent of net sales.

As a family-owned company, Boehringer Ingelheim plans in generations and focuses on long-term success, rather than short-term profit. The company therefore aims at organic growth from its own resources with simultaneous openness to partnerships and strategic alliances in research. In everything it does, Boehringer Ingelheim naturally adopts responsibility towards mankind and the environment.

More information about Boehringer Ingelheim can be found on www.boehringer-ingelheim.com or in our annual report: https://annualreport.boehringer-ingelheim.com.

Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Business Unit

Boehringer Ingelheim is the second largest animal health business in the world. We are committed to creating animal wellbeing through our large portfolio of advanced, preventive healthcare products and services. With net sales of 3.9 billion euros (2017) and around 10,000 employees worldwide, we are present in more than 150 markets. For more information click here.

Intended audiences:

This press release is issued from our Corporate Headquarters in Ingelheim, Germany and is intended to provide information about our global business. Please be aware that information relating to the approval status and labels of approved products may vary from country to country, and a country-specific press release on this topic may have been issued in the countries where we do business.