Green Cross Begins Construction of New Canadian Biopharm Mfg Facility
Green Cross, a biopharmaceutical company based in Yongin, South Korea, has begun construction of a new CA$315 million (US $253 million) biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Montreal Canada, for producing intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) and albumin The project is one of the first under the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement, which was etablished in 2014. The project will be administred through Green Cross’s Canadian arm, Green Cross Biotherapeutics Inc., which also will be serving as Green Cross' North American headquarters.
Green Cross plans to recruit 200 scientists, engineers, microbiologists, chemical engineers and other professionals, to produce and distribute plasma protein products. One million liters of plasma will be processed in this new facility every year. The plant will be built on a land of 700,000 square feet, with a gross floor area of 225,000 square feet. Green Cross is targeting commercialization in 2019. Once it reaches full operations, Green Cross Biotherapeutics Inc. expects to generate an annual revenue of over CA$300 million (US$240 million) from its own manufactured products, exceeding CA$500 million ($401 million) in total sales turnover, including all distributed and imported goods.
The new facility is the largest in a series of manufacturing investments by the company. In April 2015, Green Cross announced plans to build a new cell-therapy manufacturing facility at the Guian New Area in the Guizhou province of China. The new manufacturing site sets to address demand for clinical studies and commercial supply. Green Cross has a portfolio of approved and clinical-stage cell therapy projects including T cell, NK cell, dendritic cell and stem cells.
In March 2015, Green Cross formed a strategic partnership with Nanolek, a Russian pharmaceutical company for the commercialization of Green Cross' biologics in the Russian market. Under that agreement, Nanolek will obtain marketing authorizations and set up the production for several Green Cross' biologics at Nanolek's facility, a biopharmaceutical complex built and equipped in compliance with EU GMP standards and launched in December 2014.
Source: Green Cross (Canada), Green Cross (China), and Green Cross (Russia)