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Hand holding COVID vaccine vial

Honeywell Collaborates With Walvax Biotech to Automate China's First Digital COVID Vaccine Plant

April 18, 2022
Honeywell provides resources to Walvax Biotech to aid in the production of an intelligent and digitized mRNA COVID-19 vaccine plant through the use of digital twins and dynamic modeling.

In an effort to digitize vaccine production for China's first mRNA COVID-19 vaccine production plant, Honeywell will be providing automation control solutions to Walvax Biotechnology Co., Ltd. 

Honeywell’s intelligent plant technology and experience will be the backbone of the digital production and operation of the plant, promoting the digitalization of the vaccine industry.

Honeywell will do this by deploying batch process control as well as building and energy management solution systems in the plant to promote quality and consistency, while also optimizing production and accelerating time to market.

“The completion and delivery of Walvax Biotech’s COVID-19 mRNA vaccine plant is a key step in the industrialization of mRNA vaccines. Working with Honeywell means we can achieve superior production, operations, and management to ultimately provide world-class, high-quality production conditions for COVID-19 vaccines, jointly advance the digitalization and intelligent development of the vaccine production industry, and build a state-of-art vaccine production base, propelling Walvax Biotech to become a top-tier enterprise in vaccine R&D and production.” — Huang Zhen, Chairman of Yuxi Walvax Biotech Co., Ltd.

Walvax Biotech’s COVID-19 mRNA vaccine plant is China’s first COVID-19 mRNA vaccine industrial base. Walvax is a modern biopharmaceutical company specializing in the R&D, production, and sales of vaccines, blood products, and other biological drugs in China.

“Providing digital and intelligent solutions for Walvax Biotech’s COVID-19 mRNA vaccine plant is another important achievement for Honeywell in expanding our reach throughout the Life Sciences industry,” said Shawn Opatka, Vice President - Life Sciences, Honeywell Process Solutions.By monitoring assets and processes through digital twins and dynamic modeling, production management visualization will be a standard in the plant.

“Honeywell’s automation control and smart-connected plant solutions optimize plant manufacturing operations in terms of production, quality, compliance, and operations to realize sustainable, full life-cycle management."

The COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, jointly developed by Walvax Biotech and Suzhou Abogen Biosciences (AbogenBio), recently obtained the approval of Phase III clinical trials issued by the drug regulatory authorities of Mexico, Indonesia, and Nepal pharmaceutical supervision departments, respectively, indicating that the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine has entered the phase III clinical trial stage in the three aforementioned countries.