IDT Biologika GmbH. (1/5/17). "Press Release: IDT Biologika Acquires Ridgeway Biologicals Ltd". Dessau & Compton.

	Organisation	IDT Biologika GmbH
	Group	Klocke (Group)
	Organisation 2	Ridgeway Biologicals Ltd.
	Group	Klocke (Group)
	Product	animal vaccine
	Product 2	contract manufacturing (biologicals)
	Index term	Ridgeway Biologicals–Klocke: investment, 201701 acquisition of Ridgeway Biologicals by IDT Biologika
	Person	Kastenbauer, Andreas (Klocke 201701 Managing Director at IDT Biologika)
	Person 2	Wallis, Tim (Ridgeway Biologicals 201701 Managing Director)

UK Specialist Company for Autogenous Vaccines to be Integrated in IDT’s Global Animal Health Vaccine Network

Ridgeway Biologicals Ltd is becoming part of IDT Biologika. Pursuing its globalization strategy IDT Biologika expands its network of companies offering autogenous vaccines for animals, following the acquisition of the Canadian Gallant Custom Laboratories in November 2015. The new acquisition was signed on January 5th, with the closing of the deal dated on January 1st, 2017.

“As a leading supplier of autogenous vaccines for production animals and aquaculture, Ridgeway Biologicals is an optimal fit to our global activities in autogenous vaccines,” says Andreas Kastenbauer, Managing Director at IDT Biologika. “Ridgeway will be an integral part of our vaccine services offering bespoke solutions to veterinarians all over the world.”

Ridgeway Biologicals is the leading manufacturer for autogenous vaccines in the UK, with 25 employees working at its facility in Compton, Berkshire, England. The company’s competence and capabilities are based on its own research & development department with the development of bacterial vaccines. Poultry, pig, ruminant and aquaculture vaccines of Ridgeway Biological are sold within Europe through a strong network and broad co-operations.

“We are excited by the opportunity that IDT brings us to move our services internationally”, says Dr Tim Wallis, Managing Director of Ridgeway. “Currently, antibiotics are used in farm animals in the absence of alternatives to control disease, such as effective vaccines for disease prevention. There is huge pressure to reduce antibiotic usage and autogenous vaccines, formulated to the specific requirements of our customers, should be able to help with this aim.”

About Ridgeway Biologicals

Ridgeway Biologicals is licensed by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate to supply bacterial autogenous vaccines. The company has a highly responsive manufacturing facility which enables it to rapidly develop and supply quality-assured autogenous vaccines targeting diseases of pigs, poultry, ruminants and aquaculture.

Bacteria and viruses are continuously evolving, with new variants appearing all the time. New variants can circumvent the protection elicited by conventional vaccines leading to vaccine breakdowns. Also, for reasons of economics, fully licensed vaccines are not always available for the diseases of minor species. Changes in farming practices create newly-susceptible farmed species and as new fully-licensed products take many years to develop, they are unavailable for new emerging industries. Autogenous vaccines can fill these gaps in the animal vaccine market.

“By working closely with our clients and using DNA-based molecular diagnostics we aim to fully understand the disease problems affecting farms. We are able to re-formulate vaccines as required by continuously monitoring the pathogen burden on farm thereby providing ongoing disease control. Ridgeway Biologicals is working towards being the UK’s first viral autogenous vaccine manufacturer,” says Dr Tim Wallis, Managing Director of Ridgeway.

About IDT Biologika

IDT Biologika is an innovative, privately-held life science company with more than 95 years’ history and expertise in research, development and manufacturing of biologics for the global protection of human and animal health. Headquartered in Dessau-Rosslau, Germany, the company holds an additional animal health vaccine dedicated research & development and manufacturing location in Greifswald/Riems. In Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Poland and Canada, IDT‘s Animal Health Business Unit operates through its own sales companies.

In its U.S. manufacturing facility in Rockville, Maryland, IDT Biologika primarily provides vaccine development for clinical phase I and II projects and provides early development capabilities for the human vaccine market. In Canada, IDT Biologika acquired Gallant Custom Laboratories, based in Cambridge, Ontario. Specialized in manufacturing and supplying of autogenous vaccines the company now does business as “Gallant Customs Laboratories, an IDT Biologika company”.

In the 2015 financial year, IDT Biologika achieved sales of approximately €195 million with its animal health, vaccines, parenteral biologics and final drug products packaging business segments, an approximately 14 percent increase in business compared to the previous year. IDT Biologika currently has some 1,600 employees.

IDT Biologika is a company of the Klocke Group. The Klocke Group companies specialize in contract manufacturing and packaging of pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and cosmetic products. With more than 2,200 employees and producing at eight locations in Europe and North America, the family-owned Klocke Group offers comprehensive services for production and packaging of pharmaceutical products.

Contact:

Peter Kellner, Senior Director Corporate Communications Mobile +49 162 4248453 peter.kellner@idt-biologika.de IDT Biologika GmbH Am Pharmapark, 06861 Dessau, Germany

Record changed: 2023-06-05