The expansion will allow CSL to significantly increase plasma processing and albumin production capacity at the Kankakee, Illinois, facility. CSL said the expansion is necessary due to the growing demand for its immunoglobulins and albumin.
CSL’s EVP of Global Operations and Planning Mary Sontrop said that the intermediate paste produced in Kankakee is sent to CSL Behring’s other manufacturing facilities where it is used to make therapies for the treatment of immune deficiencies, bleeding and other medical disorders. Albumin is a plasma expander that quickly makes up for blood loss in accident victims, and that is also used to treat burn patients.
The new facility will use the same technology as CSL Behring’s manufacturing facility in Bern, Switzerland.
Sontrop added that the expansion in Kankakee is part of the company’s multi-site expansion plan, which includes the expansion of its manufacturing facilities in Broadmeadows, Australia; Bern, Switzerland; and Marburg, Germany.
“In today’s competitive market, we continually explore the latest technology that’s available, and evaluate how it can make our operations and physical plant more efficient to meet patients’ growing needs. Increasing Kankakee’s ability to fractionate plasma and produce albumin and intermediate paste is an important step for our global operations,” Sontrop said.