DSM Biologics - large scale biopharmaceuticals plant in Montreal, Canada gets green light.
DSM’s new multi-product facility, first announced in July 2002, is already under construction. It will have four fermenters with a combined capacity of more than 60,000 litres plus full downstream processing capabilities. The investment for the first phase is about EUR 100 million.
The new facility will be for production of monoclonal antibodies (MABs) and recombinant proteins based on mammalian cell culture technology, the latest generation of therapeutic biopharmaceuticals seen as the most promising and strongly growing segment of the life science industry.
The plant has a modular design, with separate production lines. It will be built in two phases. Phase one of the project is construction of a full shell with all necessary infrastructure and installation of the initial 30,000 litres lines. This part of the new facility is expectd to be on stream by mid-2005.
The new plant will expand R&D and production facilities of DSM Biologics from its current capacity of up to 2,000 litres to 30,000 litres in two fermenters. DSM’s strategic ambition is to become a leading Custom Manufacturing Organization (CMO) for biopharmaceutical products. The go-ahead reflects the group’s worldwide strategy.
Feike Sijbesma, for the Managing Board of DSM, pointed to DSM Biologics’ "small and large scale manufacturing in Groningen (the Netherlands) and Montreal (Canada) and the matching facilities for sterile dosage forms at DSM Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Greenville, North Carolina, USA) as a unique and comprehensive range of services provided by DSM, strengthening its position as a supplier to the pharma industry."
DSM recently concluded an alliance with Crucell to use their Per.C6® cell line technology to complement DSM’s development and manufacturing capabilities for small and large volume biopharmaceuticals.
The Société Générale de Financement du Québec (SGF) has a 40% stake in the project. Dr Francis Bellido, CEO of SGF Santé sees the two-phase project "gives Montreal, Québec and Canada a strong leadership position in North America in the biotech sector."
"The Government of Canada has worked closely with the Province of Québec and the City of Montreal to support DSM Biologics’ investment and expansion in Montreal and to ensure that DSM has access to a world-class investment infrastructure."
Keywords : DSM Biologics Groningen Netherlands Montreal Québec Canada Biopharmaceutical Monoclonal antibodies Multi-product Biomanufacture Mammalian cell culture High capacity Modular design Dowstream processing
