Lohmann Animal Health expands into Taiwan

German producer of avian vaccines and functional feed additives, Lohmann Animal Health, has expanded its global business activities and compound product portfolio on an international scale with a new subsidiary in Taiwan.

The new subsidiary is named Lohmann Animal Health Pingtung and there are plans to build a GMP facility for vaccine production in the Pingtung Agricultural Biotechnology Park.

Taiwan’s Premier, Jiang Yi-huah together with the Minister of Agriculture, Chen Bao-Ji joined a solemn signing ceremony in Taipei and thereby witnessed the starting point of future collaboration relationships between Lohmann Animal Health and the Animal Health Research Institute of Taiwan (AHRI) on the one hand and the Animal Technology Institute Taiwan (ATIT) on the other hand.

Dr. Bruno Kaesler, Managing Director of Lohmann Animal Health GmbH describes the intention of the settled agreements: “With this signing we lay the foundation for future collaboration with the Animal Health Research Institute (AHRI), the Animal Technology Institute Taiwan (ATIT), and other research institutes and universities. With the high level of know-how and the focused result-orientation of the scientists here, as Lohmann Animal Health we are committed to converting those research products into commercial success as we are convinced the range of new vaccines in development and the innovative technology involved, represent a great market potential.”

“Lohmann Animal Health is delighted to be part of a team in which two major new areas of technology are being developed through to commercial products. The first is the use of silkworm pupae as incubators for the baculovirus expression of subunit vaccines – an efficient, low-cost method of production compared with the conventional insect cell method of production. “This technology will be used for the very first time in the production of vaccine products in the veterinary field and therefore represents a strong unique selling proposition”, Dr. Kaesler explains with excitement.

The second is the use of E coli for the production of highly soluble authentically folded proteins for affordable subunit cocktail vaccines producing highly immunogenic and effective vaccines.

For Lohmann Animal Health, this project represents a strategically important milestone and simultaneously a natural extension of the company’s present position as further clarified by Dr. Bruno Kaesler: “We are working to expand our business activities as well as our product portfolio and ever looking towards greater globalization. Our international marketing network enables us to take the new product ranges successfully into the market and our experience in both European and US manufacturing standards and our world-leading adjuvant technology will enable us to market these cutting-edge products to full advantage.”

In phase I of three phases already planned for the collaboration with AHRI and ATIT Lohmann Animal Health will establish its new subsidiary Lohmann Animal Health Pingtung and start the building of a technical center, i.e. production plant according to European GMP standards including a modular animal house. The facility will arise in Pingtung Agricultural Biotechnology Park (PABP) and will primarily serve for long term process development, provision for formulations of first quantities up to large scale production for those products currently being in the final development phase. The Lohmann Pingtung Agricultural Biotechnology Park (PABP) facility will be an important platform for the results of innovative biological research becoming highly successful products of commercial value for both Taiwan and internationally.