AGC begins study to expand its Bio-CDMO capability in Japan
Biotech

AGC begins study to expand its Bio-CDMO capability in Japan

  • By IPP Bureau | October 04, 2022

AGC, a world-leading manufacturer of glass, chemicals, and high-tech materials, has announced that the company has been selected on September 30 as eligible for METI's "Developing biopharmaceutical manufacturing sites to strengthen vaccine production project. With this selection, AGC will accelerate its expansion planning of its biopharmaceutical CDMO capabilities at the AGC Yokohama Technical Center to be operationally ready in 2025.

As was the case for COVID-19, new types of vaccines utilizing biopharmaceutical technologies are being researched and developed around the world to combat new infectious diseases. Meanwhile in Japan there are limited production sites for biopharmaceuticals, including these new types of vaccines, and the development of production sites in Japan is an urgent issue.

Against this backdrop, the additional capabilities AGC is considering for the AGC Yokohama Technical Center consists of CDMO services for mRNA pharmaceuticals, cell and gene therapeutics, and protein based biopharmaceuticals made using mammalian cell cultures, which also can be applied for the manufacture of vaccines in the event of a pandemic.

With the Bio-CDMO know-how that the Group has cultivated at its multiple sites, Japan, the U.S., and Europe, the Group aims to early expand its services in Japan, thereby adding to the domestic biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing capacities, and a more robust production network.

Under its medium-term management plan AGC plus-2023, the AGC Group has positioned its Life Science business, including biopharmaceutical CDMO services, as one of its strategic businesses and has aggressively made acquisitions and capital investments to expand this business.

To date, the Group has established cGMP-compliant production sites in three regions around the world, Japan, the US, and Europe, and has also continuously adapted new technologies and modalities to meet customer needs.

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