Ceva Santé Animale (“Ceva”) and IDT Biologika GmbH (“IDT”) have reached a provisional agreement for Ceva to acquire IDT’s veterinary biopharmaceutical portfolio and R&D activities, allowing IDT to focus on the manufacture of human biotechnology vaccines and pharmaceuticals for national and international markets. The deal is subject to approval by the Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt) and is expected to be concluded by July 1.
Strong synergies exist between the two companies’ swine and poultry vaccine ranges and Ceva’s global geographic footprint will allow rapid expansion of the sales of the current IDT product range to the rest of the world.
With the global shift towards preventative medicines, both companies have a long history and proven track record of developing vaccines. Ceva plans to invest significantly in the development of a new Global Swine Innovation Centre at IDT’s existing Dessau site as well as at IDT Research in Riems, Germany. The centre will strengthen Ceva’s biological R&D capabilities, bringing together two highly skilled research teams and innovative pipelines with strong growth potential.
IDT has significant expertise in a number of other areas, including autogenous vaccines and oral vaccination for the control of endemic disease in wildlife and free roaming animals, adding important new technology, especially in rabies control, to Ceva’s growing public health business.
Commenting on the agreement, Ceva Chairman & CEO Dr. Marc Prikazsky said: “From the moment we began talking, it was obvious that with our respective long histories in producing vaccines, we shared a lot of common values through our private, employee and family-owned business structures. Bringing together the two teams will significantly strengthen our biological innovation and development, which is particularly important given the essential role vaccines play in reducing the need for antibiotics, which are critical to the future health of people and animals.”
For IDT: Klocke Holding, CEO, Carsten Klocke stated: “We’ve known Ceva for a long time and picked them intentionally, as the ideal partner to ensure the future growth of IDT’s existing animal health products and the strong pipeline, which will also benefit from their international presence and setup. Our colleagues from R&D and Sales will become an important part of the 6th largest and one of the fastest growing animal health companies in the world. The remaining IDT business will focus on the fast growing CDMO business for human health which represents already more than 2/3 of IDT’s revenue. Nevertheless, we will continue to manufacture the divested animal health products for Ceva, for at least five years at our Dessau site. This transaction and the clear focus will allow IDT to grow even faster and at the same time mutually support the One Health Initiative – IDT in human and our partner, Ceva, in animal health.”
No further public announcements are planned until the terms are definitively approved by Bundeskartellamt.
