Chugai, which is majority-owned by Swiss pharma giant Roche (ROG: SIX), will construct a new bio active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) manufacturing building and injection building in the Utsunomiya Plant (Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Prefecture) of Chugai Pharma Manufacturing Co.

The new bio-API manufacturing building (UT3) will target the clinical development stage to initial commercial production by establishing a new facility for middle to later-stage manufacturing of investigational drugs, including Phase 1 and 2 projects.

The new injection building (UTA) will be responsible for manufacturing sterile injectables for initial commercial use. New formulation technology will be introduced to support the formulation of complex structured antibodies using Chugai’s proprietary antibody engineering technologies.

Together with the bio-API manufacturing building for early-stage clinical development (UK4), currently under construction at the Ukima Site, andChugai to make big investment in new bio manufacturing facilities existing manufacturing buildings, investment in UT3 will further strengthen the in-house supply foundation from clinical development to initial production, thereby contributing to the rapid launch of in-house products.

“With the adoption of Chugai’s proprietary antibody engineering technologies, which the company has its strength in, the complexity of manufacturing such antibodies is increasing. Securing the technology and capacity to respond to such difficult projects and enable in-house manufacturing from the clinical development stage to initial commercial production will bring speed and flexibility to the development of in-house projects, leading to the acquisition of a significant competitive advantage,” said Chugai’s president and chief executive, Dr Osamu Okuda.

“In addition to pursuing sustainability, including consideration for the environment, we will also use digital technologies and robotics to increase productivity dramatically and realize world-class pharmaceutical and manufacturing functions suitable for a top innovator in the healthcare industry. We are committed to ensuring that innovative drug discovery ideas from our research function are realized as pharmaceuticals and to contribute to patients around the world.”