British pharma giant AstraZeneca plans to spend $135 million to expand the manufacturing operations footprint of its site in Södertälje, Sweden, by 50%.
The project calls for a 2,700-square-meter extension of an existing building at the facility, according to an Aug. 26 release. As part of the expansion, AZ will add new equipment for filling biological drugs into prefilled syringes.
The company expects production at the expanded site will begin in the fourth quarter of 2027. An unspecified number of new jobs will be generated by the project, according to AZ.
“The planned expansion will strengthen our ability to deliver high-quality, life-changing medicines to patients worldwide,” Per Alfredsson, AstraZeneca's senior vice president for global biologics operations, said in the release. “It is also an expression of the confidence we have in the competence and potential that exists in the region.”
AstraZeneca has designated the site as a "global launch facility" that supports its global biologics ambitions. The majority of programs in the company's pipeline are biologics, and the Södertälje site boasts the technology and capacity to help bring those drugs to patients.
The expansion comes a year after the drugmaker and Statkraft—Europe’s largest renewable energy producer—inked a deal on wind power deliveries to the manufacturing facility in a move to boost the supply of renewable electricity in Sweden.
Under that deal, AstraZeneca would buy 200 gigawatt-hours per year for 10 years, which corresponds to roughly 80% of the company’s total electricity needs at its research facility in Gothenburg and the Södertälje site.
AstraZeneca has previously outlined its Ambition Zero Carbon program to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by maximizing energy efficiency, shifting to renewable energy sources and investing in nature-based carbon removal.