Officials at MilliporeSigma say the company will begin a $65 million expansion of its high potency API (HPAPI) and antibody drug conjugate (ADC) manufacturing capabilities and capacity at its facility near Madison, WI. This investment is designed to allow large-scale manufacturing of increasingly potent compounds that have the potential to treat cancer.
Completion is expected by mid-2022 and should add approximately 50 full-time jobs starting in 2021, according to Andrew Bulpin, PhD, head of process solutions.
“ADCs have posted incredible growth over the last decade and regulatory agencies’ approvals in recent years demonstrate their promise as a targeted therapy,” he said. “With more than 35 years of experience in this space, we have been a frontrunner in the development and manufacturing of biologics, conjugation processes and small molecules. This investment underscores our commitment to working with innovators to bring new treatments to patients quickly and more efficiently.”
MilliporeSigma’s new 70,000-square-foot commercial building will be one of the largest dedicated HPAPI manufacturing facilities specifically created to handle single-digit nanogram occupational exposure limit materials, continued Bulpin, adding that the facility will incorporate containment areas to produce next-generation linker and payload materials for ADCs.
The project is an addition to the company’s campus in St. Louis, MO, which reportedly was the first commercial ADC facility in North America designed to handle highly active materials, and which specializes in ADC bio-conjugation, active pharmaceutical ingredients, excipient, and adjuvants manufacturing.
ADCs are an emerging class of medicines designed for high-specificity targeting and destruction of cancer cells, while preserving healthy cells. There are now only nine ADCs approved globally. However, the ADC industry is delivering strong growth and is expected to reach $15 billion by 2030, according to an article in the European Pharmaceutical Review.
