At the Carros site, we produce companion animal vaccines for all our subsidiaries. As demand is growing worldwide, we have created a state-of-the-art production unit for the pharmaceutical formulation of liquid vaccines and diluents.

A project in several simultaneous stages:

• project initiated in July 2021;
• first equipment received in May 2022;
• involvement of some 20 subcontractors and more than 100 lines of work completed between March 2022 and July 2022;
• qualification and validation of the workshop and associated equipment underway since September 2022;
• first commercial batches scheduled for May 2023.

In line with the acceleration of our Virbac 2030 strategy, we have opted for a Fast Track project, meaning that we have compressed the schedule and programmed tasks simultaneously rather than sequentially, such as the installation of new equipment.

These installations at VB8 meet the highest international quality standards, in particular the new requirements of Annex 1 of the new sterile products regulation, which will become official in July 2022.

Philippe Astruc, Director of Industrial Operations for France: "In a complex and constantly changing regulatory environment, we have successfully completed a fast-track project that secures our vaccine supply chain, complies with regulatory requirements, ensures high product quality and guarantees our HSE standards. This new unit is a collective success: without the mobilization, commitment and multidisciplinary skills of our teams, nothing would have been possible."

Frédéric Castillo, Director of the Vaccine Packaging Business Unit: "The new filling line has enabled us to make a technological leap forward in terms of contamination risk - our products are better protected today - but also in terms of management thanks to the digitization of operations. This nine million euro investment is a strategic step that lays the foundation stone for our project to build a global center of excellence in Carros for the manufacture of biological products for veterinary use."

With this new unit, we aim to increase our production capacity by around 20%, a major challenge for this project. The aim is to produce increasing volumes of vaccines competitively, as well as new biological products under research and development.

This investment will provide us with a tool that guarantees the short-term growth of our range of companion animal vaccines.