June 2, 2020Management

AGC Acquires Biopharmaceutical Commercial Facility in Colorado, U.S.A.

AGC a world-leading manufacturer of glass, chemicals and high-tech materials, announced the purchase of a biopharmaceutical commercial manufacturing facility in Boulder, Colorado, USA. The facility, formerly owned by AstreaZeneca, will provide AGC with additional capacity and significantly larger production scale. AGC will prepare for the plant to resume full-scale operations by April 2021.

Colorado plant exterior Colorado plant exterior
AGC Biologics (Headquarters: U.S.A.), a CDMO1 subsidiary of the company, utilizes mammalian cells and microorganisms to provide a variety of high value-added services that range from process development to scale-up, and manufacturing of biopharmaceutical APIs. It’s contract base covers needs from early stage clinical trials through commercial manufacturing, with particular strength in its flexible single-use production lines2 fit for producing multiple products and products with volume volatility.

The Colorado facility is a large-scale biopharmaceutical manufacturing plant that houses two 20,000-liter (total volume) stainless steel mammalian cell bioreactors, and is well suited for higher volume commercial production. It also has more than twenty acres of land providing opportunities for future expansions. The existing plant has space for up to four more 20,000-liter bioreactors. With its expanded customer portfolio, as well as current projects advancing into commercial phase, AGC Biologics was looking to expand its footprint. This addition will enable AGC Biologics to support a wider range of commercial demand, and fulfill the needs of the pharmaceutical industry better.

Under its AGC plus management policy, the AGC Group has made a commitment to position its life-sciences related business, including the biopharmaceutical CDMO business, as one of its strategic initiatives, aiming at sales in the 100-billion-yen range by 2025. In addition to this acquisition, AGC is also actively investing in facilities in Japan, the US and Europe, and is dedicated to continuing to provide customers in every region with globally consistent, top-level quality services. By maximizing synergies among the sites, AGC will continue to pursue its goal of being one of the leading companies that supports pharmaceutical companies, medical patients, and all of society.

Notes:
1) CDMO: Contract Development & Manufacturing Organization. A company which is contracted or acts on behalf of another company to handle product manufacturing as well as the development of manufacturing methods.
2) Single-Use: Bioreactors that use a disposable vessel

REFERENCE

■ AGC Group offices engaged in life-science operations

MEDIA INQUIRIES
Kazumi Tamaki, General Manager, Corporate Communications & Investor Relations Division
AGC Inc.
Contact: Yuki Kitano
TEL: +81-3-3218-5603
E-mail: info-pr@agc.com