Roche Invests In New Production Facilities At Basel
Basel-based Roche announced that it intends to invest a total of 120 million Swiss francs in the construction of new production facilities in the company’s Building 50 at its Basel site.
The company disclosed that 85 million francs will be spent on a new facility for chemically manufactured medicines. The remaining 35 million francs will be spent on the expansion and refitting of a current unit for the production of both investigational and marketed drugs. Preparatory work has already begun in Building 50, with the target of starting drugs production in the third quarter of 2016. A multi-purpose unit which will also be used to rapidly adapt to dynamic production requirements is expected to begin operations in June next year.
Matthias M. Baltisberger, Head of Basel/Kaiseraugst Site, said, “This investment is an important step for our future. In developing these two new facilities, we are enhancing the site's appeal and continuing to provide jobs for highly skilled technicians, scientists, engineers, and quality specialists.”
The announcement follows Roche’s unveiling of its plans to invest 800 million Swiss francs in its global biologic medicine manufacturing network. The investment, which was announced last October, will serve to expand Roche’s production capabilities for its biologic drugs over the next five years. The project included sites in Germany, U.S., and Switzerland. At the time, 500 new jobs were expected to be opened in connection with the facility expansions.
Roche holds the distinction of having the largest biotech production capacity of any company around the world. In 2012, the company’s employees numbered more than 82,000 around the world across its sites in North America, Asia, and Europe. In the same year Roche invested more than 8 billion Swiss francs in its research and development. The Swiss pharmaceutical firm earlier reported a 5 percent year-over-year increase in its first quarter in 2014, mainly buoyed by the sales of its two new cancer drugs Perjeta and Kadcyla for breast cancer.