AGC to Expand Production Capacity at CMC Biologics Denmark Facility

AGC Asahi Glass (AGC) has decided to increase its capacity at CMC Biologics, a 100 percent subsidiary of AGC. Specifically, five single-use bioreactors with 2,000L volume will be built at the production site in Denmark, allowing for flexible production with scales from 2000L to 12000L in a single production suite.

The Bioreactor 6Pack can be run in single unit operations or in groups, simultaneously, sequentially or in staggered fashion to achieve desired production needs. Production is expected to be online in the third quarter of 2018.

CMC Biologics, a leading contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), which was acquired by AGC in February, has development and manufacturing capabilities for both, mammalian and microbial. They offer value-added services from process development, small scale-up to commercial-scale production. CMC is the pioneer of the single-use bioreactor technology, which allows for contamination-free cleaning and sterilization.

Currently, at its manufacturing site in Seattle, Washington, CMC Biologics has a production line that offers up to 12,000L culture scale. With this additional capacity in Copenhagen, Denmark, CMC will be able to provide large-scale commercial production by single-use bioreactors in Europe as well.

“The Biopharmaceutical market is growing at above 8 percent per year, with a strong demand for antibody drugs. Along with CMC Biologics, the AGC Group will expand business globally together with AGC in Japan (Chiba and Yokohama) and BIOMEVA, a CDMO with microbial capabilities in Germany, which AGC acquired in August 2017. The integration activities after the acquisitions are progressing successfully,” said Hideyuki Kurata, general manager of life science general division, chemicals company, AGC.