Boehringer Ingelheim inaugurated its state-of-the-art biopharmaceutical production facility Large Scale Cell Culture (LSCC) in Vienna, Austria. With an investment volume of more than 700 million EUR, it is the single largest investment in the company’s history. The facility is one of the most advanced of its kind, ensuring a high degree of digitalization and automation through smart technologies and artificial intelligence applications. The new facility is an essential addition to the company’s global biopharmaceutical network and underlines the strong commitment of Boehringer Ingelheim to Europe. The LSCC has created 500 new jobs in Vienna.
Highly complex biopharmaceutical molecules play a significant role in the treatment of chronic and other severe diseases. “The potential of biopharmaceuticals for future innovative treatments is growing fast. We are committed to investing in the development of additional production platforms for biologics based on the latest technologies,” said Hubertus von Baumbach, Chairman of the Board of Managing Directors. “There are still many patients today whose diseases cannot yet be adequately treated. That is why we are putting every effort into advancing the science that will enable us to achieve the next medical breakthrough.”
Hightech production facility
In the LSCC, Boehringer Ingelheim will produce biopharmaceuticals for its own product portfolio as well as for third-party contract manufacturing. The new facility hosts fermenters with a total volume of 185,000 liters, adding an additional 30 percent in mammalian large scale capacity. The plant is designed to allow changeovers from one product to another within a very short time or simultaneous production of different products.
“With our facilities set up as multi-product plants and flexible line structures, we are able to supply a variety of molecule formats, such as monoclonal antibodies, enzymes, cytokines and other recombinant proteins for patients with unmet medical needs,” said Uwe Buecheler, Head of Business Unit Biopharmaceuticals.
Global network expertise
Boehringer Ingelheim has pioneered biotechnology since the 1970s and is today one of the world’s leading companies in research, development and production of highly complex, innovative biopharmaceutical molecules. The company’s biopharmaceutical network, within which it manufactures on behalf of customers as well as for its own product portfolio, operates globally four manufacturing sites in Asia, Europe and the US.
Biopharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing
Boehringer Ingelheim is one of the leading manufacturers of biopharmaceuticals. The company has manufactured 40 approved biopharmaceutical medicinal products used by patients all over the world. 60 percent of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies and innovative biotech firms are clients of Boehringer Ingelheim’s Biopharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing business, known under the brand name Boehringer Ingelheim BioXcellenceTM.