November 13, 2015
MSD to acquire Harrisvaccines
MSD Animal Health (known as Merck Animal Health in the United States and Canada) and Harrisvaccines, Inc. have entered into an agreement under which MSD Animal Health will acquire Harrisvaccines, a privately-held company that develops, manufactures and sells vaccines for food production and companion animals.
"As a leader in biologics, MSD Animal Health has built a robust portfolio of vaccines across all animal species," said Rick DeLuca, president, MSD Animal Health. "Combining Harrisvaccines' R&D and portfolio of products with our strong capabilities and global reach will enable us to address even more devastating diseases that are impacting production animals and reinforce our commitment to the science of healthier animals."
Harrisvaccines offers an important portfolio of vaccines, with a focus on production animals, an increasingly important segment as consumer demand for protein continues to grow worldwide. The company has a RNA Particle technology which represents a breakthrough in vaccine development. It also has a highly versatile production platform able to target a wide range of viruses and bacteria. Pathogens are collected from a farm and specific genes are sequenced and inserted into RNA particles, making safe, potent vaccines able to provide herd-specific protection.
This pioneering system is rapidly adaptable to new disease challenges and was instrumental in producing the first conditionally licensed vaccine to help control Porcine Epidemic Diarrhoea Virus (PEDv), a deadly virus that has killed more than eight million piglets since suddenly emerging in the United States in 2013.
The terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The companies expect the transaction to close in the fourth quarter of 2015.
