South Korean CDMO SK Pharmteco is budgeting $35 million for the “initial phase” of its expansion goals at the SK Biotek API manufacturing facility in Dublin.
SK Biotek and SK Pharmteco operate under the SK Holdings umbrella.
The first phase of the project at the Swords campus will include a new building that will house equipment capable of increasing reactor volume capacity by 26.5 cubic meters and will include filtration and drying equipment as well as space for subsequent phases of the expansion, the company said.
The new facility is projected to be operational in 2024. When the second phase of the Swords expansion is completed, the facility will have increased its production capacity by 50%.
‘With substantial growth in our business base, this expansion supports SK Biotek Ireland’s position as a key contributor to SKPT’s EU and worldwide business,” Joyce Fitzharris, SK Biotek’s president, said in a statement.
SK Biotek purchased the Swords facility for an undisclosed price from Bristol Myers Squibb in 2017 after BMS decided it wanted to focus its pipeline on biologic drugs.
Earlier this year, SK committed $350 million in equity financing through SK Pharmteco to the Center for Breakthrough Medicines (CBM) as part of a previously announced partnership. The move is part of the SK’s efforts to build a global end-to-end cell and gene therapy CDMO.
When completed, CBM will occupy about 700,000 square feet at the Discovery Labs (a former GSK site) that are part of what is dubbed Cellicon Valley in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.