B-MS to build new $660M US biologics plant

US drug major Bristol-Myers Squibb says it will build its new biologics facility in the USA. The new large-scale multi-product bulk biologics manufacturing plant will cost approximately $660.0 million and will be modular in design in order to accommodate future expansion. The firm recently launched its first internally-developed biologic, Orencia (abatacept), which the US Food and Drug Administration approved in December 2005 for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and, in March, the agency expanded the indication for its anticancer drug Erbitux (cetuximab), which it co-markets with ImClone Systems, for use in the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.