AbbVie acquired a small molecule active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing site in Singapore's Tuas Biomedical Park. The facility will expand Abbvie’s global operations for small molecule and biologics manufacturing, providing increased capacity for compounds within its immunology and oncology pipelines, according to the company.

The site is AbbVie's first manufacturing facility in Asia. It is approximately 120,000 square meters and includes a contained API facility that is expected to be fully operational by 2016.

In February, the company announced it will also construct a bulk biologics manufacturing facility on the property. The combined facilities will increase AbbVie's headcount by more than 250 new employees, including skilled positions across manufacturing, technical operations, administration, quality, information technology, and supply chain. Renovation of the small molecule facility and hiring for multiple positions are currently in process. The biologics facility is expected to be operational in 2019.

Recently, Singapore has seen a growth in biopharmaceutical manufacturing. According to this year’s 11th Annual Report and Survey of Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Capacity and Production, when asked about future five-year foreign outsourcing destinations, the top pick by U.S. respondents was Singapore. And just yesterday, Amgen announced it completed construction of its first next-generation biomanufacturing facility in Singapore.

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