The Hidden Champion from Saxony-Anhalt: How an Unknown Family Business Becomes Europe's Vaccine Hope
- IDT Biologika, a medium-sized company based in Saxony-Anhalt, could become the largest vaccine manufacturer in Europe.
- IDT produces Covid-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. Its own vaccine is still in development. The Russian vaccine Sputnik could also be produced here.
- The company has a hundred-year history and is on its way to becoming a global player.
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When German Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) visited IDT Biologika's plant in Dessau in November 2020, he praised IDT for its commitment and performance: "We are surprised by IDT more and more and more positively," the health minister said. This was followed by 143 million euros in government funding and two major orders.
IDT Biologika has been producing AstraZeneca's vaccine since February, and on March 15 they signed another contract with Johnson & Johnson for the production of its Covid19 vaccine.
Those familiar with the pharmaceutical industry were not at all surprised that IDT was able to start production of the two vaccines so quickly. Rainer Riedel is a professor of medical economics at the Rheinische Fachhochschule in Cologne, Germany, and knows the story of the hidden champion:
"IDT Biologika was able to accept the order from Johnson & Johnson because they were able to pause production for a dengue vaccine and had correspondingly freed up capacity for the complex production of vaccines," Professor Riedel tells Business Insider.
From development to filling
In addition to Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, talks are also said to be underway to manufacture the Russian vaccine Sputnik, MDR reported. IDT Biologika has not yet commented on this. The makers of Sputnik V have not yet applied for approval in the EU. The company is also developing its own Covid 19 vaccine.
While EU governments are trying to solve the problem of production and supply shortages, IDT plans to expand its largest vaccine manufacturing capacity across Europe. The company says it has spent hundreds of millions of euros on this.
The right people with the right technologies
AstraZeneca also sees great potential in IDT and invested in capacity expansion. Specifically, the money was used to build up to five 2,000-liter bioreactors. These could produce tens of millions of vaccine doses per month also for other diseases such as smallpox. "This would also be an advantage for vaccine manufacturers in Europe," Riedel says.
IDT Biologika advertises that it accompanies the entire process of vaccine manufacturing - from development and production to filling and storage. With the contracts currently signed and the 440 million euros invested since 1993, it is obvious that a company with potential has been built up in Saxony-Anhalt. Riedel also sees that awarding production to IDT will have a positive effect on Germany as a pharmaceutical location after BioNTech already played a pioneering role. "The right people with the right technologies have been creative here in a timely manner," Riedel says. "Germany will certainly benefit as a location from developments in the field of vaccine development and production," Riedel believes.
According to Riedel, the company has a strong reputation within the industry. IDT Biologika was founded in 1921 and at that time focused on research into tuberculosis. In the coming decades, the company expanded its research to include various diseases in human and veterinary medicine - and the production of vaccines to combat them. In 1992, the company was acquired by Hartmut Klocke and has since been part of the Klocke Group. At the beginning of the 2000s, the company was able to establish its own production facility in the USA in addition to the sites in Dessau and Magdeburg.
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