Construction has commenced at WuXi Biologics’ Irish facility, where the contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) will make biologic drugs for commercial production.
The 26-hectare campus will house 48,000L fed-batch and 6,000L perfusion bioreactor capacity, with single-use and continuous bioprocessing capabilities.
Supported by the Republic of Ireland’s Industrial Development Authority (IDA), the €325m ($390m) project is located on the government agency’s greenfield site in Mullagharlin, Dundalk.
According to WuXi Biologics CEO Chris Chen, Ireland’s European Union (EU) membership makes it an attractive option for investment, as the UK prepares to leave the union.
Ireland’s proximity to mainland Europe provides the CDMO “access to [the] EU market,” he told us in May of this year.
Global expansion
While the Dundalk facility marks WuXi Biologics’ first outside of China, the firm has plans to build global facilities in Singapore and the US.
The CDMO is also expanding its site network within China. Last month, WuXi Biologics broke ground on a 1.6 million-square-foot Biologics Innovation Center in Shanghai, as well as on a $240m manufacturing site near Beijing.
