Thursday, 5. January 2017
IDT Biologika acquires Ridgeway Biologicals Ltd
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 Biological
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.