Cytiva, Pall Investing $1.5 Bn To Expand Life-Science Product Mfg

Cytiva, the new name of GE Healthcare Life Sciences following Danaher’s $21.4-billion acquisition of GE Healthcare Life Sciences in 2020, and Pall Corporation, a provider of filtration, separation, and purification products and services and part of Danaher, are investing $1.5 billion to expand manufacturing capacity for life-science products.

The $1.5-billion investment will be made over the next two years (as reported on July 27, 2021) and will include new sites, expansion at existing facilities, and is in addition to previously announced investments. It follows five acquisitions made by the companies so far this year (2021).

The breakdown of the $1.5-billion investment is as follows:

  • $600+ million in chromatography resins—used for analyzing or purifying biomolecules—and for establishing a new manufacturing site in the US.
  • $400+ million in cell-culture media (liquid or powder form) by expanding operations in the US, UK, and Austria.
  • $300+ million in single-use technologies, including bioreactor bags as well as syringe filters for scientific research by expanding operations in the US and the UK and fitting out a new facility in Cardiff, Wales.
  • $200+ million for continuing expansion work in Cytiva and Pall’s sites across China and the rest of the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, and the US.

Accelerating expansion plans already underway

Funds are being allocated to accelerate capacity expansion plans already underway at 13 Pall and Cytiva sites making products for COVID-19 and other programs.

Cytiva is moving forward with plans to double production of cell-culture media at Cytiva’s site in Logan, Utah by 2023. This will be done by converting 25 000 m2 of land into new manufacturing lines, distribution hubs, and cleanrooms. The investment will create 250 new jobs locally. Combined with Cytiva’s recent acquisition (June 2021) of Intermountain Life Sciences, a manufacturer of liquid cell- culture media and buffers, the company seeks to shorten lead times in delivery of those products from the Logan site.

Additionally, investments at Pall’s sites in Newquay, UK, Pensacola, Florida, and San Diego, California have increased capacity to make and deliver membrane and filter products.

The $1.5-billion investment follows Cytiva’s announcement in 2020 to spend $500 million to build capacity. The investment has already funded a new manufacturing facility in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts and a new cleanroom in Westborough, Massachusetts. A new cell- and gene- therapy manufacturing site and Center of Excellence is scheduled to open in Switzerland in 2022.

As part of the investment, Pall Corporation will expand single-use manufacturing operations in China at the site of recently acquired Austar, which was established as a joint venture between Pall and Austar. Plans are also underway to expand Cytiva’s partnership with Wego, a healthcare technology supplier in China, to build more single-use technology manufacturing capacity for the region. Both companies plan further regional investment in the future.

New facilities

A new 11 000-m2 facility in Cardiff, Wales is being fitted out to manufacture single-use bioprocessing equipment, including jumper tubing assemblies, cell bags, and ÄKTA flow kits.

The first products are expected to be manufactured at this site before the end of 2021. A local hiring drive has begun to fill 250 new jobs over the next two years (as reported on July 27, 2021), primarily in manufacturing, as well as for warehouse operators, material handlers, and R&D scientists.

Additionally, Cytiva plans to build a new US facility to replicate and complement its resin-manufacturing capabilities at its site in Uppsala, Sweden. The location of the new site will be announced at a later date (as reported on July 27, 2021). Cytiva plans to hire 400 people in the US and Sweden over the next two years to facilitate expansion plans.

Overall, the companies are planning to hire 2,000 people over the next two years to support growth. This is additional to the 2,000 new associates hired by Cytiva and Pall Corporation over the last year.

Recent acquisitions

The investments are in addition to several acquisitions made by Cytiva and Pall thus far in 2021 as outlined below:

  • Vanrx Pharmasystems, Canada (acquired by Cytiva in February 2021) for drug-product aseptic-filling solutions that automate the preparation of small batches of biologic medicines, including cell and gene therapies;
  • Austar, China (acquired by Pall in March 2021) for additional single-use technology manufacturing capabilities in China to help meet need for regional vaccine manufacturing, driven by COVID-19;
  • GoSilico, Germany (acquired by Cytiva in June 2021) for mechanistic modelling software to create “digital twin” simulations of downstream bioprocessing steps for more efficient chromatography and drug-manufacturing process development;
  • Precision NanoSystems, Canada (acquired by Pall in June 2021) for manufacturing and development of lipid nanoparticles for the delivery of genetic medicines, including mRNA vaccines and therapeutics; and
  • Intermountain Life Sciences (acquired by Cytiva in June 2021) to gain new fully-operational manufacturing site in Logan, Utah to boost liquid cell-culture media production by millions of liters.

Source: Cytiva and Pall Corporation

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