AstraZeneca to build US$1.5 billion manufacturing plant in Singapore
Design and construction of the facility is slated to commence by end-2024
ASTRAZENECA is planning to build a US$1.5 billion facility in Singapore to manufacture antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), or treatments that enable precision therapy for cancer.
On Monday (May 20), AstraZeneca said that its greenfield facility is supported by Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB) and will be the company’s first end-to-end ADC production site.
The multinational drugmaker is listed on the London, Stockholm and Nasdaq exchanges.
Design and construction of the facility is slated to commence by end-2024. It is targeted to be operationally ready from 2029.
Upon completion, the plant will fully incorporate all steps of the ADC manufacturing process at commercial scale. Such steps comprise antibody production, synthesis of chemotherapy drug and linker, conjugation of drug-linker to the antibody, and filling of the completed ADC substance.
The facility will be designed to emit zero carbon from its first day of operations.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
AstraZeneca also intends to work with the Singapore government and other partners on green solutions for the facility.
The company’s chief executive Pascal Soriot highlighted Singapore as “one of the world’s most attractive countries for investment, given its reputation for excellence in complex manufacturing”.
EDB chairman Png Cheong Boon said: “This greenfield investment is a strong show of confidence in Singapore’s biopharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities and talent, strengthens our ecosystem in supporting the development and manufacturing of precision medicines, and creates meaningful jobs and economic opportunities for Singapore.”
Other investments in the manufacturing and innovation of ADCs in Singapore include GSK’s nearly S$44 million high-potency manufacturing facility, which produces key cytoxic components of ADCs used to treat cancer.
Additionally, Singapore’s national platform for drug discovery and development – the Experimental Drug Development Centre (EDDC) – had its first made-in-Singapore ADC, EBC-129, approved for Phase 1 studies in 2023 by the US Food and Drug Administration as well as Singapore’s Health Sciences Authority.
EDDC is hosted by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research.
As at May 13 this year, the Phase 1 trial has progressed into dose expansion, which will evaluate EBC-129’s effectiveness and tolerability in a range of solid tumours.
Separately, Hummingbird Bioscience, which has around 100 employees in Singapore, is also building a pipeline of ADCs targeting cancer.
Last October, the company out-licensed its first ADC to Endeavour BioMedicines in a deal that will see Hummingbird earn up to US$430 million plus royalties on net sales.
“EDB is optimistic about the economic opportunities arising from the adoption of precision medicine globally in the healthcare industry,” said the statutory board on Monday.
“Singapore welcomes leading biopharmaceutical and medical technology companies to tap our ecosystem to develop, manufacture and commercialise products and solutions that enable precision medicine to contribute to better healthcare outcomes around the region and globally.”
EDB said that Singapore’s biomedical sciences industry, which comprises the biopharmaceutical and medical technology sectors, is a key contributor to the economy. In 2022, the industry accounted for 2.3 per cent of gross domestic product and manufactured almost S$39 billion worth of products for the global market.
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
