Eisai Co., Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, has completed construction of a new parenteral production facility  in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China and has completed construction of a new packaging facility in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, the United Kingdom.

Historically, Eisai has operated its Suzhou Plant for the manufacturing and packaging of solid preparation products for the local market. The establishment of the new facility is aimed at building up the company’s local manufacturing capability in order to handle increasing demand in China for its peripheral neuropathy treatment, Methycobal injection, in expectation of sustained future growth in the market. The new facility was built on an approximately 134,000-square meter lot in the Suzhou Industrial Park that was newly purchased by Eisai for the construction. It stands two floors aboveground with a total floor space of approximately 3,300 square meters.

Serving as the company’s new base for parenteral manufacturing, the new facility is initially equipped with a production line for Methycobal injection that has the capacity to manufacture an approximate maximum of 60 million ampuls per year. Furthermore, the company intends to expand the role of the new facility in the future to function as a global supply center of injection products for a wider range of markets, including the rest of Asia and Latin America.

In another development, Eisai Co., Ltd. has established a holding company Eisai China Holdings Ltd. in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China. Eisai China Holdings Ltd. is a subsidiary of Eisai Asia Regional Services Pte. Ltd. which is Eisai's representative subsidiary for Asia located in Singapore. With the establishment of this new company, Eisai China Holdings Ltd. will integrate the Chinese domestic subsidiaries Eisai China Inc. and Eisai (Suzhou) Trading Co. Ltd., strengthen various functions (including accounting, legal and compliance), and also create a flexible capital transfer system to respond to capital demands, in order to optimize the management of business in China. Through the establishment of Eisai China Holdings Ltd., Eisai plans to further enhance its pharmaceutical production, sales, and supply systems in China

Eisai has also completed the construction of a new packaging facility at its Hatfield, Hertfordshire production plant in the UK ahead of plans to launch multiple new Eisai products. An official opening ceremony was held on November 26, 2014. The Hatfield plant is operated by the company’s UK manufacturing subsidiary, Eisai Manufacturing Ltd., and the Hatfield plant serves as a global supply center for new products, such as the antiepileptic agent, Fycompa, while also functioning as a production and packaging base for countries in Europe, where there is a demand for a high mix of low-volume product presentations in multiple languages.

Located adjacent to the currently operating facility (total floor space: about 7,800 square meters), the new facility covers a total floor space of approximately 2,900 square meters, representing an increase in size of approximately 40%.The new facility is specifically designed for highly potent compounds to handle the packaging of Eisai’s investigational anticancer agent, lenvatinib, and Eisai intends for the Hatfield plant to serve as the global supply center for lenvatinib. Eisai established the European Knowledge Center (EKC), which integrates the company’s discovery research, clinical development, production, marketing, and European headquarters functions into one site, in Hatfield, Hertfordshire in 2009 with the aim of expanding its business operations in Europe. At present, the EKC serves as the regional headquarters for Eisai’s EMEA business, which covers Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Oceania.

Source: Eisai (parenteral production facility in China), Eisai (establishment of Chinese holding company), and Eisai (UK facility)