Evonik, a provider of drug delivery technologies, is building a new, highly flexible, global-scale production facility for pharmaceutical lipids in the U.S. The new plant at Evonik’s Tippecanoe site in Lafayette, IN, will position the company for future growth in novel mRNA-based therapies beyond COVID-19 vaccines. Construction will begin in early 2023, and the plant is scheduled to go onstream in 2025. The investment into the lipid facility will help create more than 80 highly skilled jobs in the Lafayette region.
 

The total investment of $220 million includes U.S. Government funding of up to $150 million through Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), a component of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Additional support will be provided by the Indiana Economic Development Corp. (IEDC), Greater Lafayette Commerce (GLC), and Duke Energy. 
 

The Health Care business of Evonik, a specialty chemicals company headquartered in Essen, Germany, serves as integrated service provider of products and technologies for mRNA-based medicines. Evonik has been supplying major pharmaceutical companies worldwide with the lipids needed for use with mRNA active ingredients (messenger ribonucleic acid). Lipids are critical components in the formulation of nucleic acid therapies.
 
Evonik provided lipids to the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and vaccination campaigns worldwide. mRNA serves as a carrier of genetic information in cells. It can be designed for a broad range of pharmacological applications. mRNA vaccines, for example, teach cells how to make a protein that will trigger an immune response.
 

“With this investment in lipid production, we are further expanding our leading position on the global market and specifically strengthening our Health Care business,” said Evonik CEO Christian Kullmann. “It supports our strategic transformation into ‘Next Generation Evonik’, contributing value-added solutions with superior environmental and socio-economic profiles to our customers.”
 

The Tippecanoe site is Evonik’s preferred location for this project due to its existing infrastructure, a highly skilled workforce, and readily available technologies. Tippecanoe is one of the world’s largest sites for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and Evonik’s second-largest site in the U.S., with around 650 employees. Evonik is a leading producer of APIs, focusing on large-scale manufacturing of highly potent drug substances and APIs based on complex chemistry which require multi-step synthesis. 
 

The new multi-purpose facility will allow the rapid and flexible production of a variety of lipids. These will serve future applications of mRNA technology in infectious disease control, cancer immunotherapy, protein replacement, and gene therapy. The new facility will help ensure a rapid and extensive supply of lipids as needed in case of a future pandemic.