Genentech’s facility based in Tuas, Singapore, won the award owing to the fast execution of a project to increase the production capacity of Lucentis, a drug used to treat wet age-related macular degeneration.
The plant aimed to go from engineering to the initiation of GMP qualification in two years and beat this schedule by two weeks by embracing a modular approach from the beginning, placing an early focus on site issues and by ‘outstanding project planning, execution techniques, and team development’. Additionally, the project came in 10.5% under a US$217m budget.
The 2010 FOYA judging panel, which consisted of eight pharmaceutical industry executives with global experience, was also impressed by the way Genentech’s project brought together three geographic regions and overcame severe logistical challenges.
In addition to biotechnology company Genentech, five other firms were Category Winners in 2010. They were:
- Biogen Idec, headquartered in Weston, Massachusetts, US, winner of the Facility of the Year Award for Operational Excellence;
- MannKind Corporation, headquartered in Valencia, California, US, winner of the Facility of the Year Awards for both Equipment Innovation and Process Innovation;
- Pfizer Biotechnology Ireland, located in Cork, Ireland, winner of the Facility of the Year Award for Sustainability; and
- Pfizer Ireland Pharmaceuticals, located in Dublin, Ireland, winner of the Facility of the Year Award for Facility Integration.
Sponsored by ISPE, Interphex, and Pharmaceutical Processing magazine, the FOYA programme, now in its sixth year, recognises state-of-the-art pharmaceutical manufacturing projects that use new and innovative technologies to enhance the delivery of a quality project, as well as reduce the cost of producing high-quality medicines.
