PHARMACEUTICAL
UPDATE
July 2006
McIlvaine Company
BIOTECHNOLOGY
Novartis Plant Going to North Carolina
An international pharmaceutical giant has chosen North Carolina over Athens, GA to build a $600 million influenza vaccine plant.
Switzerland-based Novartis AG announced that it will begin construction on the plant in 2007 in Holly Springs, N.C. The plant will employ 350 people within five years to make 50 million doses of vaccine annually, the company said.
Georgia is moving forward with a planned $14 million biotechnology department at Athens Technical College despite the loss of Novartis.
North Carolina agreed to give Novartis at least $6 million in incentives, according to the Greensboro News-Record newspaper.
Novartis also received a $220 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to build the plant, according to Reuters news service. HHS distributed $1 billion in grants in May to companies that are working on a new, faster manufacturing process based on cell cultures, rather than eggs, Reuters said. Using eggs to make flu vaccine can take nine months, which led to shortages in 2004 when a plant shut down and others couldn't make up the difference in time for flu season.
Alexion to Buy Bio-Mfg. Site in Rhode Island
Alexion Pharmaceuticals will buy a new facility in Rhode Island to make its experimental drug, Soliris, for a rare blood disorder. Soliris is intended to treat Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria, which affects between 8,000 and 10,000 people in the U.S. and Europe and causes red blood cells to be attacked and destroyed by the body's own immune system. The drug will be filed in the second half of 2006 with the FDA and EMEA. The drug Soliris is presently manufactured by Lonza Biologics of Switzerland at a plant in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
The 55,000-sq.-ft. plant in Smithfield, RI, was previously used by Dow Chemical as a biopharmaceutical facility. Alexion will retrofit the plant to include two 10,000-liter bioreactors and associated purification suites with a pilot plant. The company hopes to begin manufacturing Soliris at the Rhode Island plant in 2008.
Rentschler Biotechnologie GmbH is Expanding Its Facilities in Laupheim, Germany
Rentschler Biotechnologie GmbH is expanding its facilities, buildings and laboratory units at the company’s site in Laupheim, Germany. This will increase production capacities for antibodies and mammalian cell culture-derived proteins. “By expanding our production capacity we will establish Rentschler Biotechnologie as a market supplier of antibodies," said Dr. Nikolaus F. Rentschler, the company's chief executive officer.
The Rentschler Group will invest $64 million in its biotechnology segment to build two fermentation suites with a total volume of 5,000 liters (2,500 L each) for market production and several smaller suites ranging from 250 to 500 liters for clinical supplies, creating more than 100 jobs. The first new production line will be operational early in 2008. In the future, 10 independent GMP facilities will be available for the production of biopharmaceuticals.
At its 3,500 square-meter facilities in Laupheim, the company currently has the capacity for manufacturing clinical supplies and market supply of low-dosed drugs. According to the company, by setting up additional fermenter suites, the Rentschler Group will strengthen its biotechnology business of custom manufacturing services from cell line development to large-scale cGMP production, registration of drugs and fill and finish.
University of Illinois Awarded $3.2-million for Post-Harvest Processing Center
The University of Illinois will get $3.2 million in state assistance for the South Farms modernization project. The money is to help plan and design the new Integrated Post-Harvest Processing Center.
"This grant will allow us to create the space in which our researchers will work to identify new and better ways to convert agricultural products into useful energy," said a statement from Richard Herman, chancellor of the Urbana-Champaign campus. "Their discoveries and developments will benefit not only the people of Illinois, but those all around the world."
The new grant is part of the governor's Opportunity Returns economic development plan for East Central Illinois.
The 60,000-square-foot facility will include laboratories and equipment for biotechnology, fermenting, corn milling and soybean processing. The total cost of the project is expected to be about $20 million.
Capital Development Board Executive Director Jan Grimes said the new center is needed because the current South Farms facilities, built between 1918 and 1926, cannot accommodate all of the technology needed to conduct cutting-edge research.
The new building is also one of three projects the Capital Development Board has selected to be case studies for environmentally friendly "green" building techniques and materials, which are supposed to save millions in energy and operating costs down the road. Examples of green building principles include making use of natural light; using solar power and/or wind power; incorporating water conservation strategies; and using environmentally-friendly paint, carpeting and building materials.
Major Investment in Stem Cell Research at Centre for Life
Work has started today on a £3.8m upgrade of fertility services and stem cell research facilities at the Centre for Life in Newcastle, UK.
The £3.8m investment, under the banner of Science City, will enable new facilities to be built, including clean room laboratories, purpose-designed for stem cell research, which will provide a contamination-free environment where 'clinical grade' cells can be produced, bringing the treatment of patients a step closer.
The project is being taken forward by the Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (ISCBRM), a partnership of the regional development agency One NorthEast, Newcastle and Durham Universities, The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust and the Centre for Life.
The new facilities at the Centre for Life will allow a £9.8m Science City grant from One NorthEast, aimed at making the North East one of the world's top ten centres for stem cell research by 2010, to be brought into use at the earliest possible date. To facilitate this initiative, a seven year lease has been signed by Newcastle University, whose Institute of Human Genetics is based at the Centre for Life.
The project forms part of the continuing collaboration in life sciences research involving One NorthEast, the University and the Centre for Life, constitutes a major platform in Science City, and represents a commitment by the partners to investing in the advancement of stem cell therapies and regenerative medicine at the Centre for Life for the remainder of the decade and beyond.
One NorthEast announced details of the £9.8m grant in December 2005. The money will help to create two world class facilities – one in the Newcastle Fertility Centre at Life, run by the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust and an adjacent stem cell laboratory occupied by Newcastle University scientists. These facilities will enable stem cells to be produced of sufficient quality to be used on patients for therapeutic purposes.
The ISCBRM was established to build world-class research strengths in the life sciences and contribute to the North East economy. It is a key component of the Science City initiative, announced by Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown to boost economic growth and high-tech jobs in the North East and in in five other English cities or regions.
One NorthEast, Newcastle City Council and Newcastle University formed a core partnership to take forward the Science City initiative in Newcastle and are reporting progress to government ministers on a regular basis.
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