AstraZeneca’s $39 billion buyout of Alexion was completed less than a year ago. But the parent company is wasting no time investing in its rare diseases subsidiary—especially in Ireland.
Two months after the deal was done, AZ revealed it was laying out $360 million for a next-generation manufacturing plant in Dublin. Now the company says it is pouring another 65 million euros ($68.7 million) into the site and another Alexion plant in Ireland, 120 kilometers west in Athlone.
AZ is adding equipment for new drug substance production at the Athlone site. It’s also building a new manufacturing and sciences technology lab at the Dublin facility. At both sites, the companies are adding warehousing facilities for ambient and cold storage.
The improvements will increase Alexion’s drug substance production capability in Ireland, while the lab will help scale up biologics drug substance manufacturing.
The companies didn’t disclose whether the investment includes the creation of new jobs.
In September of last year, AZ said it was building a new active pharmaceutical ingredient plant for small molecules in Dublin’s Blanchardstown area. The plant has also been tabbed to produce antibody drug conjugates and oligonucleotides and will create roughly 100 jobs.
“The future manufacturing of APIs for our medicines includes compounds with highly complex synthesis, requiring next-generation technologies and capabilities that can respond quickly and nimbly to rapidly changing clinical and commercial needs," AZ's executive vice president of global operations and IT, Pam Cheng, said at the time.
AZ’s deal to acquire Boston-based Alexion was motivated by its desire to be a rare disease player. Key drugs gained in the purchase were Soliris and Ultomiris.