The German company, which has 22 production facilities globally, supplies the life science research and the biopharmaceutical industries: noting that demand for innovative technologies used in the development and production of biopharmaceuticals continues to grow rapidly.
The Ann Arbor site is described as an integral part of Sartorius' ongoing worldwide expansion, enabling the company to scale up its operations and capabilities in the Ann Arbor biotech hub.
Sartorius will be situated in the Tech Loop at the Ann Arbor Research Park; creating a flagship site for the company in North America. To this end, the company has purchased over 15 acres of land which provides sufficient space for further expansion. The project is expected to create 160 jobs over three years. These jobs will include product development, operations, and other support functions.
"The new facility will consolidate existing business operations in Washtenaw County to create a center of excellence in Ann Arbor for the Laboratory and Bioprocess Products and Services in North America, which focus on providing innovative solutions to help customers develop drugs that cure, prevent, and halt the progression of diseases," said Mary Lavin, President of Sartorius North America.
Sartorius is extending its capacities ‘very significantly’ in all its geographies: the Americas, Europe, and Asia. By 2025, Sartorius will more than double capacities for key product groups (in particular separation; fluid management and instruments & systems): as well as expanding its presence with customers, particularly in China and the US, by setting up Customer Interaction Centers. It will also invest in activities in South Korea.
In 2021 alone, Sartorius plans to invest around €400m / $468m worldwide (up from €240m / $281m in 2020).
Releasing its H1 2021 results in July, Sartorius noted ‘unabated high demand’ for technologies used in the development and production of biopharmaceuticals.
It closed the first half of 2021 with significant double-digit increases in both sales revenue and order intake.
The pandemic has prompted orders from customers who manufacture coronavirus vaccines and coronavirus test kits: although Sartorius notes that this is an ‘important though not dominant’ factor in growth.
“Due to the ongoing expansion of our production facilities worldwide, we are well prepared to respond to the high demand expected to continue, and recruitment of additional employees is continuing at full speed. As communicated at the beginning of July, we significantly raised our sales and earnings forecast for the full year yet again though forecasts are currently subject to above-average uncertainty due to the various pandemic-related effects,” noted executive board chairman and CEO Joachim Kreuzburg at the time.