UCB will double staff at Swiss bioproduction facility
pharmafile | November 15, 2011 | News story | Manufacturing and Production | UCB, manufacturing
Belgian pharmaceutical company UCB showcased its new bioproduction facility in Bulle, Switzerland, yesterday, saying that the workforce there looks set to double from 200 to 400 by the time the plant opens in 2015.
UCB first unveiled plans at the end of last year to invest €250 million in the Bulle site, in order to help meet demand for Cimzia (certolizumab pegol) its rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease treatment.
The 20,000 sq. m. facility will be one of the largest in Europe once completed, and will complement a 5,100 sq. m. mammalian cell pilot plant which is currently being built in Braine l’Alleud, Belgium.
Bulle will be the primary Cimzia production site across UCB’s network, and also the main biologics centre for the group. Currently a large component of Cimzia manufacturing is carried out by contract partners, notably Lonza.
Cimzia continues to drive growth at UCB, adding €220 million to the firm’s coffers in the first nine months of 2011, a rise of 60%, despite a weak market for this type of drug in the US.
The company claims it is winning market share from older biologic products used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s, and its drug is now available in 24 countries, including the most recent addition of Russia in October.
UCB’s decision to set up its own production unit for the drug in Switzerland is a welcome boost for the country’s biopharmaceutical sector, given a backdrop of hefty job losses in the Swiss pharmaceutical sector.
Notably, Novartis’ recently decided to slash 1,100 positions at facilities in Basel and Nyon, while Roche cut 700 staff from its Swiss workforce last year.
UCB’s vice president for technical operations and quality, Michele Antonelli, said that the increased speed and efficiencies afforded by producing drugs in Switzerland largely outweigh factors such as the strong Swiss franc, according to a Swissinfo report.
Phil Taylor
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