Bayer to invest 500 million-euro-plus in hemophilia products manufacturing in Germany

German pharma major Bayer (BAYN: DE) revealed yesterday that it plans an investment of more than 500 million euros ($693 million) at its sites in Wuppertal and Leverkusen, Germany, to establish additional capacities for the manufacturing of the recombinant factor VIII (rFVIII) hemophilia products that are currently in development.

The investigational therapy options for hemophilia patients – a plasma protein-free rFVIII (BAY 81-8973) and a long-acting rFVIII (BAY 94-9027) – are both currently in Phase III clinical trials. In February this year, Bayer HealthCare announced positive results from the PROTECT VIII trial evaluating Bayer’s site-specific PEGylated rFVIII (BAY 94-9027).

Bayer’s approved hemophilia A therapy product Kogenate FS/Kogenate Bayer is manufactured exclusively in Berkeley, California, USA. Establishing an additional supply source in Germany will help the company to prepare for production of the anticipated new therapy options and address the growing demand in this therapeutic area.

“This investment will be one of the largest in the history of Bayer HealthCare and reflects our strong commitment in the field of hemophilia A,” said Olivier Brandicourt, chief executive of Bayer HealthCare. As part of this investment Bayer HealthCare will create about 500 new jobs at its sites in Leverkusen and Wuppertal by the year 2020.