Process sciences and manufacturing are key strengths at Biogen Idec. The company’s capabilities and capacity for protein manufacturing are world-class in quality and scale. Biogen Idec has expertise in protein expression in mammalian cells and process sciences capability for cell culture and downstream processing.
Biogen Idec is one of a few biotechnology companies with three licensed and dedicated biological bulk-manufacturing facilities. These facilities include a 250,000-square-foot large-scale manufacturing (LSM) plant in Research Triangle Park, NC. The LSM has 90,000 liters of bioreactor capacity and is one of the largest biologic manufacturing facilities of its kind in the world. This facility has already received industry recognition for its exceptional design, innovative modular construction methods, and strong safety record. The company also operates other licensed manufacturing facilities in Cambridge, MA and San Diego, CA.
In Oceanside, CA, Biogen Idec recently finished construction on a 70,000-square-foot facility for the manufacture of biologics for clinical trials and is now building a second 90,000-liter, world-class manufacturing facility, which is scheduled to come on-line in 2006. When operational, these new facilities together with the other company’s other licensed manufacturing plants will give Biogen Idec over 200,000 liters of capacity for the manufacture of biologics. This represents sufficient manufacturing capacity for Biogen Idec’s own growing pipeline of products, as well as the products of potential partners.
Today’s protein-based drugs and monoclonal antibody therapeutics typically face dosing requirements up to 1,000-fold higher than earlier first-generation biologics. With sales of such biologics accelerating and with a pipeline of additional drugs in late-stage development, biomanufacturing capability and capacity has become a critical issue for all companies. Biogen Idec’s leadership in biologics manufacturing makes the company an ideal collaborator for the co-development of innovative therapeutics.