New facility planned to meet increasing demand for transplantation drug.
Genzyme will build a new biomanufacturing plant in Lyon, France, for the production of Thymoglobulin® (Anti-thymocyte Globulin [Rabbit]), a treatment used in transplantation. The facility is needed to meet the anticipated long-term demand for Thymoglobulin, both for its current use and in potential new indications, according to the company.
The new 140,000-sq-ft facility in Lyon will replace Genzyme’s smaller plant in nearby Marcy l’Etoile and will provide more than twice the manufacturing capacity. Approximately 165 people are employed at the existing Thymoglobulin plant, and Genzyme expects that approximately 50 new jobs will be created when the new facility operates at full capacity. The total cost of the project is expected to be 105 million Euros.
The new plant will be located within the Lyon-Gerland Biopôle, an area dedicated to biotechnology. The facility will be situated on a nine-acre site, which will allow Genzyme to expand the plant if needed, as it has done at a number of its other manufacturing locations. Construction is expected to begin later this year, and regulatory approvals are expected starting in 2010. Routine manufacturing at the site is expected to commence in 2011.
