Baxter planning $1 billion plasma facility for Atlanta
pharmafile | April 24, 2012 | News story | Manufacturing and Production |Â Â Atlanta, baxter, manufacturing, productionÂ
Baxter International has unveiled plans to build a major new manufacturing complex for its plasma-based therapies in Atlanta in the US, with a planned investment of more than $1 billion.
The ambitious programme envisions a central manufacturing facility in Covington, Atlanta, which will be served by a network of plasma collection centres across Georgia that taken together could employ as many as 1,500 people.
Construction at the site will begin this year and will include facilities for plasma fractionation, purification, fill-finish and a testing lab, as well as warehousing and distribution facilities.
Plasma fractionation – the process of separating plasma into its components – is a $14 billion global industry that supplies millions of patients each year with therapies for immune disorders, trauma and other critical conditions.
The US provides more than 50% of the world’s plasma supply, and Baxter is among the world’s leading producers. Commercial production at the new Covington facility is scheduled to begin in 2018, with the new plasma fractionation facility adding up to 3 million litres of new capacity annually when fully operational.
“The manufacture of high-quality biologic medicines is critical for serving the needs of patients around the world. We’re pleased to partner with the people of Georgia to support Baxter’s core mission of saving and sustaining lives,” said Robert Parkinson, the company’s chairman and chief executive.
The investment is supported by state financial incentives as well as a range of other activities, including the construction and operation of a biotech training centre, funded by Georgia Quick Start, that will provide Baxter with a customised training programme and should ensure a stream of new employees coming through the state’s technical college system.
Meanwhile, Baxter said it also expects to create more than 200 new positions in Illinois, including jobs associated with expanded filling and finishing capacity at its existing manufacturing facility in Round Lake.
The new jobs at the Round Lake facility will support production of Flexbumin, a preparation of plasma-based albumin treatment in a flexible container.
Phil Taylor
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