Boehringer Ingelheim Puts $80 Million into Animal Vaccine Manufacturing

Animal health company Boehringer Ingelheim will invest $80 million to expand it’s manufacturing facilities in Athens, Ga., and St. Joseph, Mo., starting this quarter. This major investment comes only months after the company finalized it’s acquisition of Merial at the beginning of 2017.

This growth will add 100,000 sq. ft. to the Athens facility, and nearly double the plant’s filling capacity for companion animal and avian vaccines. Construction will begin in the fourth quarter of 2017 and will be completed by the second half of 2019.

Construction at the St. Joseph facility will add 13,000-sq.-ft. to increase production of livestock animal vaccines to the existing 700,000-sq.-ft. campus. The expansion will be completed in 2019, and will add 20 additional jobs.

“The vaccines manufactured today in Athens and St. Joseph make a major difference for both the pets and livestock animals of our customers. The company has pioneered many important advancements in vaccines, and we continue to focus on health and prevention as core principles of our Animal Health business,” said Veronique Kodjo, global head of industrial operations for Boehringer Ingelheim’s Animal Health business. “These significant investments in expansion and capacity ensure that we can continue to support our future business growth areas.”

BI is the second-largest animal-health company in the world, after acquiring Sanofi’s animal health business (Merial) earlier this year.