UCB Invests $2 Billion in Georgia Manufacturing Campus
Belgian drug developer UCB is building a $2 billion biologics manufacturing campus in Rowen, Georgia (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News).
- The facility will be UCB’s first manufacturing plant in the U.S., though the company has done business in the country for nearly 100 years. Today, more than 2,000 UCB employees work in the U.S. (Contract Pharma).
The plan: The site, which was dedicated earlier this month, is expected to be completed in 2032 or 2033 and will produce biologic medicines using artificial intelligence, automation and advanced manufacturing technologies.
- The approximately 460,000-square-foot campus will occupy 79 acres within Georgia’s Rowen innovation district and is expected to create 330 permanent jobs.
The location: UCB highlighted Georgia’s support for the life sciences industry and its skilled workforce as key factors in the investment.
- “UCB’s project is the brightest recent success of Georgia life sciences leaders, who worked through industry group Georgia Life Sciences to lay out a 10-year ‘roadmap’ last year with the aim of ‘positioning Georgia as the scale-up manufacturing hub of the Southeast,'” according to
Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News.
Why it matters: Strengthening the pharmaceutical supply chain in the U.S. is critical to public health and national security. The NAM has long advocated for policies that support pharmaceutical manufacturers that make our lives better, healthier and longer.
UCB says: “Our manufacturing investment in the United States reflects our long-term commitment to patients, strengthening our ability to serve them while contributing to scientific innovation, highly skilled jobs and economic growth in Georgia,” UCB CEO Jean-Christophe Tellier said in a statement.
