HQ Team
May 20, 2024: AstraZeneca plans to build a $1.5 billion facility to make antibody-drug conjugates in Singapore, the company announced in a statement.
The greenfield facility will be AstraZeneca’s first end-to-end antibody-drug conjugate production site, according to the statement.
AstraZeneca plans to start the design and construction of the manufacturing facility by the end of 2024, with targeted operational readiness from 2029.
Antibody-drug conjugates are biopharmaceutical products that deliver cancer-killing agents directly to the cancer cells through a targeted antibody.
Unlike chemotherapy, antibody-drug conjugates target and kill tumour cells without harming the healthy cells.
Zero carbon emission
Most conjugates developed so far are for treating cancer, but there is enormous potential for using these to treat other diseases such as atherosclerosis, bacteremia, and inflammatory diseases, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Manufacturing of ADCs is a multi-step process that comprises antibody production, synthesis of chemotherapy drug and linker, conjugation of drug-linker to the antibody, and filling of the completed conjugate substance.
AstraZeneca has a broad portfolio of in-house antibody-drug conjugates including six wholly-owned conjugates and more in preclinical development.
“This facility will be designed to emit zero carbon from its first day of operations.”
Based in Cambridge, UK, AstraZeneca operates in more than 100 countries.
