MilliporeSigma Will Increase Production of ADCs for Cancer Treatments
The company is spending $76 million to make its St. Louis, Missouri, factory able to make more ADCs.
MilliporeSigma, the US and Canada Life Science division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, shared on Oct. 29, 2024, that it will invest $76 million to enhance manufacturing capabilities for antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) at its Bioconjugation Center of Excellence in St. Louis, Mo. The investment focuses on expanding utilities and improving labs for process and analytical development. The company aims to expand in order to assist early stage and commercial bioconjugates while also reducing turnaround times.
The expansion includes upgrading 34,000 square feet of space, which encompasses process and analytical development, quality control, research and development, manufacturing, and logistics departments. Additionally, there will be new labs, a facility specifically for preparing manufacturing buffers, and a cold storage area along with a room temperature warehouse that meets good manufacturing practice (GMP) standards.
“We are creating the future of cancer care, right now.” “This investment is about more than just improving our capabilities; it’s about supporting our clients’ success by speeding up innovation and development to bring new therapies to patients faster,” said Benjamin Hein, head of Life Science Services, Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, in a press release. “ADCs offer a new way to treat cancer, focusing on therapies that reduce harm to healthy cells.” As this new approach becomes more popular and the medical field starts using it as a primary option, it could lead to fewer patients requiring invasive procedures such as chemotherapy and radiation, which often come with serious side effects.
This current expansion builds on the efforts the company has made in recent years. In 2022, the company launched a new facility in Verona, Wis., covering 70,000 square feet and costing $65 million. This expansion allowed them to double the production of potent APIs used in cancer treatments. The company states that ADCs are hopeful options for treating cancer.
“ADCs can effectively target diseased cells while sparing healthy tissues, showing great promise beyond cancer treatment, especially with new bioconjugates such as antibody-oligonucleotide conjugates and radioimmunoconjugates.” These bioconjugates are being looked at for different uses, such as treating autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases, and neurodegenerative disorders. The company stated in the press release, “This expanding scope shows how bioconjugates are changing the game in personalized medicine across various treatment areas.”
In other ADC news, MilliporeSigma introduced the Mobius ADC Reactor in September 2024, a single-use mixer designed for ADC manufacturing that is easy to scale. The company introduced ChetoSensar technology, which helps solve problems related to ADC solubility. The ADCore portfolio offers advanced payload intermediates that help create simpler and more efficient synthetic pathways for common payloads used in ADC, which cuts down on development and manufacturing time.
MilliporeSigma provides knowledge in clinical and commercial manufacturing, including clinical services for investigational new drugs, commercial services for approved ADCs with bioconjugation or linker/payloads, and integrated services for viral vectors, lipids, messenger RNA manufacturing, and additional offerings.
Source: MilliporeSigma
