Abraxis BioScience Adds Research Facility And Sets In Motion The Development Of A Biopharmaceutical Campus

Los Angeles, CA - Abraxis BioScience, Inc., an integrated, global biopharmaceutical company, recently announced it has increased its research facilities with the addition of a 50,750 square foot facility located in Marina del Rey, California. This facility contains 20,000 square feet of cGMP-compliant production space designed for the manufacture of clinical trial materials for cell-based biotechnology products including whole cell vaccines and stem cell therapies. The facility, which was formerly owned by CancerVax, Inc., will now be used by Abraxis to expand the company's research and process development capabilities, including biosimilars, as well as house the company's regulatory affairs and medical writing staff.

The Marina del Rey facility will also support ongoing research efforts to further develop therapeutic agents using the company's proprietary nab(TM) technology platform, discovery research on new chemical entities and exploitation of the SPARC pathway and its role in cancer. Previous work at this facility by CancerVax included the production of a drug for use in clinical trials and manufacturing processes, quality systems and analytical development.

The company also announced the purchase of a 3.5-acre property in Culver City, California, which is intended to be the foundation for the first biopharmaceutical campus in Los Angeles. This campus, which is intended to be complete in 2008, is intended to bring together all of the company's proprietary research, development and clinical trial capabilities.

"We have grown tremendously over a relatively short period of time and this facility, along with our development of a biopharmaceutical campus in nearby Culver City, will provide us with the space necessary to meet our laboratory, R&D and production requirements to support our continued evolution as a next generation biopharmaceutical company focusing on first-in-class technologies and injectable pharmaceuticals addressing the needs of critically ill patients," said Patrick Soon-Shiong, M.D., chairman and chief executive officer of Abraxis BioScience.

SOURCE: Abraxis BioScience, Inc.