AstraZeneca To Build $285M Biologics Facility in Sweden

AstraZeneca laid out plans to invest approximately $285 million in a new high-tech facility for manufacturing of biological medicines in Södertälje, Sweden. The new plant will be focused on filling and packaging of protein therapeutics. It is anticipated that the new facility will supply medicines for clinical trial programs of AstraZeneca and MedImmune, the company’s global biologics research and development arm, from the end of 2018, and will deliver finished products for commercial use once fully operational by 2019.

Södertälje is currently home to AstraZeneca’s largest global tablets and capsules manufacturing facility and is also a launch platform site for the company, with specialist capabilities on-site that allow large-scale production of new medicines, working closely with the research and development organization.

The planned investment will create between 150 and 250 new roles at AstraZeneca by 2019.

“This is a strategically important investment for AstraZeneca to support the accelerating development of biotech medicines, which now make up around half of our pipeline,” said Pascal Soriot, chief executive officer, AstraZeneca. “We expect to bring a significantly increased number of new specialty care medicines to patients in the coming years, driven in large part by biologics. This new plant will give us greater capacity and flexibility to handle clinical trials, and will also play an important role in our future commercial production.””
“Building what will be a world-class facility in this area is not only important to AstraZeneca but we believe it will also add value to the Swedish and Nordic life sciences sector by enhancing the skills base,” said Jan-Olof Jacke, president, AstraZeneca AB. “Södertälje will also be considered as the location for the next phases of our program to expand our global biologics manufacturing capacity.”

The new manufacturing facility in Sweden will support the progression of drug candidates across the main therapy areas and be aligned with investments being made in the current biologics manufacturing centers, such as the expansion in Frederick, MD, U.S., announced in November.