Amgen to expand manufacturing, r&d and commercial operations

Global biotechnology company Amgen is planning significant investment in additional manufacturing and r&d operations in the US and Europe and expansion of its commercial operations into new markets.

Specifically, it expects to invest more than US$1bn in new process development, bulk manufacturing and fill and finish facilities at Cork in Ireland, with the aim of giving the company capacity closer to the patients it serves in Europe. Amgen expects to break ground on the Cork projects later this year and to begin operations there in 2009. By 2010, the company expects to employ more than 1,100 people at the new Irish facility.

'Amgen is pleased to establish a site in Ireland as part of our ongoing global development and manufacturing expansion,' said Fabrizio Bonanni, senior vice president, manufacturing. 'The company considered several attractive sites in other countries, but chose Ireland due to its thriving biotechnology community, infrastructure to support biologics manufacturing and attractive business climate.'

Amgen also intends to expand its existing r&d operations in Cambridge (Massachusetts), San Francisco, Seattle, and Cambridge in the UK, and build a new development centre in Uxbridge, UK. In addition, it has moved its European headquarters from Lucerne to Zug, Switzerland, and formed a new entity, Amgen International, also located in Zug, that is expected to enhance access to Amgen's vital medicines for patients in emerging markets in Central and Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The newly formed Amgen International oversees operations in Europe, Australia and the Middle East. Amgen expects that it soon will start up activities in Russia, Mexico and Brazil. By the end of the decade, Amgen anticipates expansion of its commercial activities into not yet covered countries in Eastern Europe, Central and Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Amgen is currently is adding a manufacturing plant in Puerto Rico to produce EPOGEN (Epoetin ?) and Aranesp (darbepoetin ?). In 2005, Amgen received licensure of a NEUPOGEN (Filgrastim) and Neulasta (pegfilgrastim) plant in Puerto Rico and an Enbrel (etanercept) plant in Rhode Island, and announced plans to acquire Abgenix, a leading biopharmaceutical company with a large manufacturing plant in Fremont, California.

Over the last five years, Amgen has invested more than $3bn to enhance its manufacturing capabilities in the US and has added more than 4,000 operations jobs in the US since 2001.