Genzyme celebrates four major openings in Europe
Genzyme Corporation has celebrated the completion of four major expansion projects in Belgium, Ireland and the UK. Together the projects represent capital investments of more than US$500m. The facilities include its new biomanufacturing plant in Geel, Belgium, for the production of monoclonal antibodies and proteins; expansion of its manufacturing centres in Waterford, Ireland and Haverhill, UK; and the creation of an antibody discovery research facility in Cambridge, UK.
The company has also decided that in addition to producing humanised monoclonal antibodies, the facility at Geel will be used to meet anticipated demand for Myozyme (alglucosidase alfa), its enzyme replacement therapy currently under review with regulatory authorities for the treatment of Pompe disease.
Genzyme has a total of seven manufacturing sites in Europe, including a small molecule production site in Liestal, Switzerland, a polyclonal biomanufacturing site in Lyon, France, and diagnostic manufacturing facilities in Kent, UK, and Ruesselsheim, Germany.
The new Geel facility will produce Campath (alemtuzumab for injection), used to treat B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL). It will begin preparations to produce in-house batches of Campath in 2005, and it anticipates the first complete production runs within a year. This plant is located on the site of a facility acquired in 2001 from Pharming, which was working to develop a therapy for Pompe disease.
The addition of protein manufacturing capabilities in Geel will help the company meet anticipated demand for Myozyme. If approved, Myozyme would be the first treatment developed for patients with Pompe disease, a debilitating and often fatal muscle disorder resulting from an inherited enzyme deficiency.
The latest expansion at Waterford adds a biological fill/finish centre to support the growth of protein and antibody products manufactured at other facilities. It will be the European fill/finish centre for the company's enzyme replacement therapies for rare genetic diseases, and for Thymoglobulin (anti-thymocyte globulin) for the treatment of acute rejection in patients with a kidney transplant.
The Cambridge-based discovery laboratory will focus primarily on the application of antibody technology to oncology, renal disease and immune-mediated diseases. It will also serve as an important centre for clinical trial support in Europe, for more than 30 ongoing clinical trials.
Genzyme's Haverhill plant is being further expanded to support clinical development of a range of potential new therapies, including sevelamer carbonate for chronic kidney disease, and Tolevamer for Clostridium difficile associated diarrhoea.