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| Glenmark's manufacturing facility in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland--Courtesy of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals |
India's Glenmark, which is working on both novel monoclonal antibodies and biosimilars, needed more manufacturing capacity for its clinical trial work and so has brought online a new mAb manufacturing facility in Switzerland. With more mAbs and antibody-drug conjugates being developed for attacking cancers, a number of companies have undertaken expansion projects.
The Mumbai-based company has a number of mAbs in various stages of development, including bispecific antibodies, and so needed more capacity, Glenmark Biologics President Michael Buschle explained. "The manufacturing facility would help us bring these antibodies to the clinic faster and position Glenmark as a leading innovative pharmaceutical company," he said in a statement.
The manufacturing facility is in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, where Glenmark has an integrated research center for antibody discovery and development. The new manufacturing facility will employ single-use bioreactor systems and also includes a suite for manufacturing cell banks. A Glenmark spokesman Wednesday said the company is not disclosing what it invested in the new facility, where it employs 69 people.
Glenmark is not the only company boosting its capacity in this lucrative corner of the cancer treatment arena. French contract manufacturer Novasep said last month it had completed an expansion of its highly potent active pharmaceutical ingredients (HPAPI) manufacturing operations at its plant in Le Mans, France. It spent about €4 million ($5.5 million) on the FDA-approved operation, which is being scaled up for commercial use.
- here's the Glenmark announcement