WuXi Biologics investing $60 million to set up first US biologics production facility

China-based WuXi Biologics (HK: 2269) is to invest $60 million and hire approximately 150 employees to establish a state-of-the-art biologics clinical and commercial manufacturing facility in Worcester, Massachusetts in the USA.

The facility will be Hong Kong-listed WuXi Biologics' 11th global drug substance manufacturing facility (MFG11).

This state-of-the-art "facility of the future" will be built upon the novel approach that WuXi Biologics has pioneered in deploying single-use bioreactors. It is also designed to run continuous bioprocessing, a next-generation manufacturing technology to be implemented in America for the first time. A total of approximately 4,500 L bioreactor capacity will be installed with two 2,000 L traditional fed-batch and one 500 L perfusion-based continuous processing. This facility will handle both clinical and small volume commercial production. An early-stage bioprocess development lab will also be included.