Dive Brief:
- Chinese drugmaker WuXi Biologics on June 10 announced an investment of $60 million into construction of a clinical and commercial manufacturing facility for biologics in Worcester, Mass., its first production site in the U.S.
- WuXi's 11th global drug substance manufacturing facility will be the first tenant at the Worcester Biomanufacturing Park. The site will handle both clinical and small volume commercial production, and will include an early-stage bioprocess development lab.
- According to WuXi, the new site should meet its need for biologics development and manufacturing "in the near future."
Dive Insight:
Following expansion in China, WuXi has been making steps to build a global manufacturing network.
Last month, the Hong Kong-listed company announced plans to build in Dundalk, Ireland what it claims will be the world's largest biomanufacturing facility. Per its announcement, the 64-acre site will eventually boast 48,000 liters of fed-batch and 6,000 liters of perfusion bioreactor capacity.
While the Worcester, Mass. site won't be nearly as big — at 4,500 L of bioreactor capacity — it will be the company's first in North America, and will create around 150 new jobs.
"Many partners of WuXi Biologics are located within two hours of this new site," said Chris Chen, CEO of WuXi Biologics.
The Worcester Biomanufacturing Park is built on the site of the former Worcester State Hospital, and will include facilities for the manufacturing of drugs and medical devices.
"WuXi Biologics brings a global biologics manufacturing expertise that will enhance our life sciences ecosystem and help Massachusetts biopharma companies develop novel therapies quickly and efficiently," said Travis McCready, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center.