Amgen has announced a $1bn investment to establish a second US drug substance manufacturing facility in North Carolina.
The expansion builds on the company’s previously announced $550m commitment in Holly Springs, bringing its total planned investment in the area to more than $1.5bn.
The facility will incorporate new technologies and sustainable practices and, together with the existing facility, will create 370 new jobs in the region.
Amgen said the expansion will enhance its global biomanufacturing network and leverage “decades of operational expertise and technological advancements” to ensure the reliable and efficient delivery of medicines to patients globally.
Robert Bradway, chairman and chief executive officer at Amgen, said: “North Carolina will be an important part of our global manufacturing network as we continue to meet the growing demand for our innovative therapies while generating significant local economic impact.”
Amgen announced the groundbreaking of its first Holly Springs facility in March 2022. The company said at the time that it expected the site to be operational by 2025 and that it would support the growing demand for its medicines that treat serious illnesses such as cancer and heart disease.
The first plant will use traditional drug substance technologies and Amgen’s innovations to create a hybrid facility called FleXBatch, the company said. This is aimed at making drug substance manufacturing more efficient and helping Amgen achieve its company-wide sustainability goals.
North Carolina governor Roy Cooper, said the state’s “reputation as one of the world’s leading centres for biotechnology soars even higher” with Amgen’s latest investment.
“North Carolina offers everything an innovative biotech company needs to succeed, especially our highly trained, dedicated and diverse workforce which is fine-tuned to the needs of this critical industry,” he said.
The announcement comes just days after Amgen announced promising results from a mid-stage trial of its investigational antibody peptide conjugate, MariTide (maridebart cafraglutide), in patients who are overweight or obese, both with and without type 2 diabetes.
The company also recently shared positive top-line results from a phase 3 trial of its B cell-depleting therapy Uplizna (inebilizumab-cdon) in adults with generalised myasthenia gravis, a rare autoimmune disorder that impairs neuromuscular communication and causes muscle weakness.