The new facility will help the company to incorporate biologicals analytical and process development, as well as manufacturing units into one unit, enabling to maximize synergies and increase development capacity.
Expected to be opened in 2020, the new center will house 500 employees, with an increase of around 100 employees in biologicals development compared to current scenario.
The new BDC is said to compliment the firm’s major recent investments into the biopharmaceuticals development network, which will help to increase the mammalian cell culture capabilities.
Boehringer recent investments include large scale biopharmaceuticals facility in Vienna of Austria, new biopharmaceuticals facility in Shanghai of China, as well as expansion of existing large scale biopharmaceutical capacities in Fremont of California.
The company has developed biopharmaceuticals such as humanized antibody fragment, which selectively returns the effect of an oral anticoagulant prior to urgent procedures / emergency surgery or in uncontrolled bleeding.
Boehringer is also testing first-in-class Interleukin-36 receptor antibody for special forms of psoriasis, as well as ulcerative colitis and crohn’s disease.
In addition, the firm is investigating various antibodies for difficult to treat cancers.
Boehringer’s BioXcellenc is a biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing unit for large volume products.
It manufactures 29 biopharmaceuticals, including monoclonal antibodies for oncology and immunology, interferons and other targeted therapies, for industry partners from across the world.
Boehringer Ingelheim development corporate senior vice president Fridtjof Traulsen said: “The BDC is another key building block supporting the company’s long-term strategy for increasing the pipeline’s share of biologicals. This is particularly driven by two of our core areas, immune oncology and immunology.
“The share of new biological entities in Boehringer Ingelheim’s research pipeline has been consistently increasing over the past few years and has now reached forty percent.”