Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca is developing a state-of-the-art facility to manufacture biological medicines in Södertälje, Sweden.

The new biologics manufacturing facility will be used for filling and packaging of protein therapeutics.

AstraZeneca is investing more than Skr2.5bn ($300m approximately) into the state-of-the-art facility. The investment in the facility is the first phase of the company’s potential three-part programme, which is designed to expand biologics manufacturing capabilities.

AstraZeneca initiated plans to invest in the new facility in May 2015 and began construction in August 2015. The plant will supply medicines for clinical trials from the end of 2018, while drugs for commercial use will be delivered from 2019.

The new factory is expected to create more than 150 jobs in Södertälje by 2019.

Location of AstraZeneca’s new plant in Sweden

The new biologics manufacturing plant is being constructed at the Gärtuna plant in Södertälje, Sweden.

AstraZeneca selected Södertälje as the location for biologics manufacturing due to the availability of skilled workforce.

It intends to combine its expertise in biologics with the operational excellence of its Sweden operations unit, through the establishment of the new facility.

Details of the biologics manufacturing facility

The new plant will enable AstraZeneca to increase its capacity and flexibility to handle clinical trials and support further commercial production of biologics.

It will supply medicines for clinical trial programmes of AstraZeneca and MedImmune, the company’s global biologics research and development arm.

It will support the development of drug candidates across the main therapy areas, and be aligned with investments in the existing biologics manufacturing centres.

The factory will be installed with advanced technologies, which have not been used previously by AstraZeneca.

Machinery for filling, formulation, sewing and packaging form a major part of the equipment in the factory.

Construction

The new facility recruited 80 people with majority of them residing in barracks next to the factory by the first half of 2017. A structured programme was created for preparing the manufacturing plant to start biologics production.

The validation and testing of the equipment available on-site began in early-2018. The process operators are being simultaneously trained to handle the equipment before the start of operations.

The plant will start manufacturing drugs, once it achieves compliance with the good manufacturing practice (GMP) standards.

Marketing commentary on AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca is a leading biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the discovery, development and commercialisation of prescription medicines. It is one of the world’s biggest manufacturing and export companies in Sweden, with operations in Gothenburg and Södertälje.

The company’s operations in Sweden range from research and manufacturing to marketing. AstraZeneca employs more than 6,700 people in its operations across Sweden.

It produces 30 different medicines in Södertälje for approximately 100 markets across the world. AstraZeneca’s Nordic-Baltic marketing company is also headquartered in Södertälje.

With extensive research and manufacturing presence in Sweden, AstraZeneca Södertälje produces more than ten billion tablets a year.

AstraZeneca exports medicines worth Skr40bn ($4.75bn) from Sweden, which accounts for approximately 3.5% of the total export of goods in Sweden. The company invests more than Skr15bn ($1.78bn) a year in research and development for its Sweden operations in Södertälje and Gothenburg.