AstraZeneca invests $285 million in new Swedish biologics facility

Anglo-Swedish pharma major AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) says that it plans to invest around $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 R&D 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 R&D organization. By locating the new manufacturing plant in Södertälje, the company will combine its expertise in biologics with the well-established culture of operational excellence that exists within the Sweden Operations unit. The planned investment will, subject to relevant approvals by the local authorities, create between 150 and 250 highly skilled new roles at AstraZeneca by 2019.