After delivering strong sales growth last year and with more expansion in mind, CDMO giant Wuxi Biologics is breaking ground on a new microbial production plant in Chengdu, China.
The 95,000-square-meter (1.2 million-square-foot) facility, which the company expects to be GMP-ready by the end of 2026, will feature China’s first dual-chamber lyophilization production line and house a vial filling line, WuXi Biologics said in a June 9 press release.
WuXi Biologics says its future Chengdu site will accommodate a variety of modalities, such as peptides, antibody fragments, enzymes, cytokines, plasmid DNA and virus-like particles. The CDMO expects the facility's total capacity to reach more than 10 million vials per year.
The site will house a 15,000-liter fermenter able to produce 80 to 110 drug substance batches per year, the company added. The projected cost of the new facility wasn’t disclosed.
“With the booming global market for microbial products presenting unprecedented potential for next-generation therapies, our Chengdu site—with its robust production scale and cutting-edge technologies—is ideally positioned to capitalize on this trend,” Chris Chen, WuXi Biologics’ chief executive, said in the release.
As for specific projects, the plant will be tasked with producing VISEN Pharmaceuticals' first commercial product, lonapegsomatropin, a long-acting growth hormone for the treatment of pediatric growth hormone deficiency. WuXi also has a partnership with Virogen Biotechnology centered on "commercial manufacturing operations," the company said in the release.
Despite navigating political turmoil in the U.S., WuXi Bio posted 9.6% sales growth last year, generating nearly 18.7 billion yuan ($2.6 billion). Taking COVID-related projects out of the mix, WuXi Biologics’ total 2024 revenue grew 13.1% year over year, the company reported in March.
The bulk of the company's gains were attributed to the growth of certain technology platforms in its portfolio, such as ADCs and bispecific antibodies, as well as recent capacity expansions and a production ramp-up in Europe.
Looking into the future, WuXi Biologics expects “accelerated and profitable growth in 2025 and beyond," Chen said in a statement in March.
While WuXi Biologics has been busy taking on new projects lately, the company recently offloaded a production site in Germany for about $167 million.