Ceva Biomune, the local vaccine production division of Ceva Animal Health, has broken ground on a new facility to meet demand for its vaccine products. The $20 million dollar, 38,000 square foot project will allow the company to increase vaccine production capacity and utilize new technology in the process.
The new facility will be used for both poultry and swine vaccine production and will come on line in early 2017. Since acquiring Ceva Biomune in 2005, Ceva has invested over $65MM in the campus adding over 200,000 square feet of production capacity and an additional 100,000 square feet in warehouse space. When acquired, Biomune Company employed 112. Today Ceva employs more than 419 in the Kansas City metro area.
“Ceva is, and has always been, focused on aggressive growth here in Lenexa and around the world,” said Daryl Pint, CEO of Ceva Biomune. “Every 12 to 16 months we break ground on a new project to add additional space to meet growing demand for our vaccine. Because we are constantly in a growth mode, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that this sustained level of expansion and investment is highly unusual. ”
This expansion is an important step toward Ceva’s goal of becoming a Top 5 global animal health company by 2020.
“Ceva is known as a market leader for our superior customer service and innovation in vaccine production. This expansion will allow us to meet our goals of being the number one poultry vaccine provider both domestically and around the world. When we receive our licenses for swine products this new space will be critical in being able to scale up to support that business unit,” said Pint.
Vaccines produced in Lenexa are shipped to over 70 countries world-wide. Ceva has grown its export business from just 12 percent of sales in 2006 to nearly 70 percent of annual sales today.
“Ceva’s rapid growth speaks to the passion and commitment our employees bring to work every day,” said Pint. “Every day they give it their all and live Ceva’s values of customer passion, entrepreneurism, innovation, and team work. We owe our success to our employees.”