US-based biotechnology company Amgen, will build a new biopharmaceutical product assembly and packaging facility in New Albany, Ohio, to support the rising demand for Amgen’s medicines in the US.
The facility’s construction began in November 2021 with an estimated investment of $365m. The facility is expected to be operational by June 2024, creating up to 400 full-time jobs upon completion.
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Location of Amgen’s new assembly and packaging facility
Amgen’s new assembly and packaging facility will be located on 177 acres of greenfield land in the New Albany International Business Park, south of State Route 161 Expressway and west of Beech Road in New Albany in Central Ohio. The expressway offers rapid access to New Albany.
The business park is on 4,000 acres of land and has more than 10 million square feet (0.93 million square metres) of company space.
The site lies close to several popular locations such as the I-270 outerbelt, the Easton shopping and entertainment district, Columbus John Glenn International Airport, the Ohio State University, Wexner Centre for the Arts & Battelle Memorial Institute, Rickenbacker Port Authority and downtown Columbus.
The facility will lie in the northeastern part of the Columbus metro area. The proximity of the pharma packaging facility to the Columbus region allows Amgen to attract talented science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students graduating from educational institutions in the region.
Amgen’s assembly and packaging facility details
The state-of-the-art manufacturing facility will have a built-up area of 270,000ft² (25,084m²) and feature the latest digital automation for assembly and final packaging of Amgen’s medicines for distribution in the US.
The facility will be used primarily for filling, labelling and packaging a wide variety of pharmaceuticals in vials and syringes.
Funding details
The Ohio Tax Credit Authority approved a state tax credit of up to $15m for over 15 years for the new factory.
The facility has also been granted 100% real property tax abatement for 15 years by New Albany.
Sustainable features of the Amgen facility
Amgen’s new facility will be designed to maximise energy efficiency and reduce waste, promoting environmental sustainability, helping the company achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.
The facility will be built in compliance with rigorous environmental standards to align with the company’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2027.
Contractors involved
Turner Construction, a construction management company based in the US, is the lead contractor for the project’s construction. CRB Group, a sustainable engineering, architecture and consulting company based in the US, is responsible for providing design services.
Amgen will work with AEP, an electric utility company based in the US, to achieve its sustainability goals.
Marketing commentary on Amgen
Amgen was established in 1980 and produces large-molecule biologics and other biotechnology medicines for serious illnesses, including oncology, inflammation, cardiovascular disease, bone health, neuroscience, and nephrology.
Amgen’s US operations across California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island employ more than 14,000 people. The company’s largest manufacturing site is in Puerto Rico, with approximately 2,400 employees across 22 buildings. Amgen has a total workforce of 25,000 employees worldwide.
Amgen also applies its expertise in biomanufacturing to produce biosimilar medicines apart from biologics. The biosimilar medicine products are similar to existing biologic medicines with clinically no significant differences.
In September 2020, the company partnered with Eli Lily to manufacture the drug substance and fill the drug product for the latter’s Covid-19 vaccine.
Amgen joined a coalition named OneTen, which comprises the world’s 35 largest companies across diverse industries, to employ one million Black Americans over the next ten years in October 2020.
In October 2021, Amgen was named one of the World’s Best Workplaces by Great Place to Work.
