GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has opened two continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities in Jurong, Singapore following a S$130-million (US $96-million) investment.

The new facilities include two continuous manufacturing facilities and an expansion of one of the site’s production buildings. One of the new continuous manufacturing facilities is part of GSK’s Jurong’s research and development pilot plant, where new chemical entities (NCEs) are developed and scaled up. GSK says the facilities will improve the site’s capability in drug manufacturing by allowing faster production of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for clinical trials.

The first NCE to be developed at the new facility will be daprodustat, an oral hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor for treating anemia associated with chronic kidney disease, which is currently under development, according to GSK.

The expansion of the production building, which makes APIs for HIV medicines, will increase GSK’s capability to produce Tivicay (dolutegravir sodium), a GSK drug for treating HIV. The company says the investment has enabled the renewal of critical infrastructure in the production building and has allowed GSK to test and develop digital technologies in the manufacturing process.

GSK’s Jurong site was opened in 1982. The nine-hectare site has evolved from bulk manufacture of established products to becoming a new product introductions site within the GSK pharma supply chain.  It is focused on the development of late-phase NCEs and delivering products such as highly active compounds in small batch sizes. There are about 490 employees working at the Jurong site.

In 2012, GSK and Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB) formed a collaboration to jointly explore strategic investment options for GSK in Singapore. This led to the formation of a GSK–EDB 10-year Singapore Manufacturing Roadmap that aims to guide investment decisions and developmental work in manufacturing. This recent investment is one of the collaborative areas in this 10-year roadmap.

Source: GlaxoSmithKline