BAYER AG Wuppertal, February 15, 2021 - State Premier of North Rhine-Westphalia Armin Laschet and Birgitta Radermacher, President of Duesseldorf Administrative District, today visited Bayer AG's research and production site in Wuppertal to gain an insight into the planned vaccine production there.
Bayer plans to manufacture 160 million doses of the CureVac vaccine in 2022 as part of its cooperation agreement with CureVac N.V. The Wuppertal site will play a key role in this process.
'Effective vaccines are our best weapon to combat the pandemic. Bayer AG's decision to join forces with CureVac and help produce the vaccine is another crucial step in the fight against the virus,' said State Premier Laschet. 'However, it also sends out a clear signal that North Rhine-Westphalia aims to become a center for highly promising mRNA technology and lead the international competition in this field. The pharmaceutical and biotechnology site in Wuppertal offers ideal conditions for the high-tech, complex process of vaccine production.'
Commenting during the visit, District President Radermacher said, 'I am delighted that this urgently needed vaccine is being produced in our district as well. My administration is doing everything in its power to complete the necessary procedures as quickly as possible.'
Werner Baumann, Chairman of the Board of Management of Bayer, emphasized the historic importance of the project. 'It is vital we ensure that industry and politics work together with a clear focus on solutions to overcome the major challenges of our time. One of those challenges is the coronavirus pandemic. Here at Bayer, we have provided assistance and support in many different ways - and we are now taking a historic step. This will be the first time Bayer produces human vaccines. A situation as unique as this calls for special measures. We have profound expertise in developing and producing biotech products, and everyone understands the immense time pressures on ramping up vaccine capacities. That is why I would like to thank the state government for agreeing to do all it can to help us establish the necessary production plants. Part of that is ensuring the relevant approval procedures are completed swiftly.'
Stefan Oelrich, member of the Bayer AG Board of Management responsible for the Pharmaceuticals Division, also sees these activities as a way of strengthening Germany's reputation as an industrial location. 'Investing in groundbreaking fields of medical research and development and helping to shape them right from the outset is crucial to this country's standing in the health and research sector. This is particularly true in the case of cell and gene therapies, which could play a major part in improving future health care for our population.'
About Bayer
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. Its products and services are designed to benefit people by supporting efforts to overcome the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. At the same time, the Group aims to increase its earning power and create value through innovation and growth. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development, and the Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability and quality throughout the world. In fiscal 2019, the Group employed around 104,000 people and had sales of 43.5 billion euros. Capital expenditures amounted to 2.9 billion euros, R&D expenses to 5.3 billion euros. For more information, go to www.bayer.com.
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Bayer AG published this content on 16 February 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 16 February 2021 08:14:02 UTC.
