Life science company MilliporeSigma said Monday it opened its new $65 million, high-potent active pharmaceutical ingredients production facility in Verona, bringing 50 new jobs to the Madison area.
MilliporeSigma, the Burlington, Massachusetts-based U.S. and Canada Life Science business of Merck KGaA in Darmstadt, Germany, said the 70,000-square-foot facility doubles the company's production of high-potent active pharmaceutical ingredients (HPAPIs), allowing the company to meet a growing need for the key cancer treatment components, said Dirk Lange, head of life science services, Life Science business sector of Merck.
"There is an increasing demand for HPAPIs due to their effectiveness against cancer at lower doses and the trend towards more targeted therapeutics. Lower-doses of these therapies reduce the negative side effects for patients who are taking on this critical fight," said Lange in a press release.
MilliporeSigma provides contract manufacturing services to pharmaceutical customers, streamlining drug development and production, including pre-clinical and commercial manufacturing services. The company announced the investment in the new facility in March 2021.
The project is supported by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., which authorized up to $200,000 in state income tax credits over three years contingent upon the number of actual jobs created. An economic modeling study estimates the project could generate an additional 43 more jobs in the region, providing more than $182,448 in state income tax revenue annually, the WEDC said when the project was announced last year.
Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide, MilliporeSigma said. HPAPIs are a critical element of targeted therapies due to their extremely effective cell-killing abilities at low doses, resulting in reduced side effects for patients. They are used in novel cancer therapies, including antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), which are changing the landscape of cancer treatment.
The two-story commercial building in Verona is one of the company’s largest dedicated HPAPI manufacturing facilities.
The Dane County community of Verona is also the site where Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc. is investing up to $250 million in a new pharmaceutical manufacturing and research campus in the Verona Technology Park, creating 250 jobs.
Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ARWR) of Pasadena, California, was awarded $16 million in tax incremental financing support and $2.5 million in refundable tax credit from the WEDC for the project. Arrowhead is building an approximately 140,000-square-foot drug manufacturing facility and an approximately 115,000-square-foot laboratory and office facility to support process development and analytical activities.
Completion of the lab and office space is anticipated in the first quarter of 2023 and completion of the manufacturing facility is expected in the fourth quarter of 2023.
