AGC Inc. (hereinafter “AGC”), a Tokyo-based world-leading manufacturer of glass, chemicals, high-tech materials, has decided to expand the facilities of AGC Pharma Chemicals Europe S.L.U. (hereinafter “APCE”), an AGC subsidiary in Spain engaged in the synthetic pharmaceutical (*1) CDMO (*2) business. A new building with a total floor area of 7,500 m2 will be constructed on the company's site, increasing the current production capacity by 30%. The new facility is scheduled to start operation in the first half of 2024, with an estimated total investment of approximately 100 million US dollars.

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Photo: Site scheduled for expansion (yellow-boxed area)

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Reference:

AGC Group’s CDMO business locations

https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M000303/202204069676/_prw_PI3fl_7TTl7l2b.jpg

Based on its long history and extensive track record, APCE has incorporated AGC's long-accumulated chemical synthesis technologies, including knowledge of handling fluorine, and the company's number of contracts is growing faster than the synthetic pharmaceutical CDMO market, which is growing over 7% or more annually. To meet this strong demand, AGC has decided to further expand the capacity of this site, in addition to the 30% facility expansion ( https://www.agc.com/en/news/detail/1200616_2814.html ) announced in April 2020. This expansion will include the introduction of facilities for highly potent active pharmaceutical ingredients (HPAPI) (*3), such as cancer therapy drugs, for which demand has been increasing in recent years. Furthermore, AGC will consider additional capacity expansion in the near future since the newly constructed building has additional room for further expansion.

Under its medium-term management plan "AGC plus-2023," the AGC Group has positioned its life science business, including its synthetic agrochemical/pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical CDMO services, as one of its strategic businesses. The Group aims to expand its sales of the life science business from 44.9 billion yen in 2018 to 135 billion yen in 2022 and 200 billion yen or more in 2025. This investment follows AGC Wakasa Chemical's facility expansion in November 2021 ( https://www.agc.com/en/news/detail/1202588_2814.html ), and the company will continue to make aggressive acquisitions and capital investments in both its synthetic agrochemical/pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical CDMO business. The AGC Group will work to provide its customers in each region with globally unified high-quality services, contributing to the well-being of patients and the wider society as a whole.

Notes

(*1) Synthetic pharmaceuticals: Pharmaceuticals manufactured through chemical synthesis, small-molecule pharmaceuticals.

(*2) CDMO: Contract Development & Manufacturing Organization. A company which is contracted on behalf of another company to provide product manufacturing services as well as the development of manufacturing processes.

(*3) Can handle up to OEB4 (1-10 microgram/m3)