GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is investing $120 million to expand its manufacturing facility in Upper Merion, Pennsylvania to support the delivery of the company’s pipeline for cancer medicines and other specialty diseases.

GSK says the new biomanufacturing facility will bring together research and development (R&D) and manufacturing teams in one facility in Upper Merion by combining its workforce, technological and scientific capabilities, and infrastructure to research potential new genetic targets and manufacture them into new medicines.

The newly outfitted manufacturing space is made to be more flexible, using emerging technologies in bioreactors such as single-use and disposable components, which eliminates the need for complex retrofitting and sterilizing. A new analytic lab is also part of the facility.

Since 2017, GSK has invested close to $400 million in US manufacturing capabilities across its vaccine and specialty portfolios, including at its site in Upper Merion. GSK has two R&D sites in Pennsylvania (Upper Merion and Upper Providence), employing approximately 3,500 people. In addition, GSK has its US corporate headquarters in Philadelphia’s Navy Yard that employs more than 1,000 people.

GSK says the Upper Merion facility will initially be producing key pipeline assets. All products are currently in clinical trials and subject to clinical trial outcomes and regulatory approval.

Source: GSK