Amgen opens AI-enabled Ohio biomanufacturing facility

Earlier this year, NVIDIA and Amgen revealed plans to analyze one of the world’s largest human datasets using AI models trained on an NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD in Iceland. Now, Amgen is signaling its continued commitment to cutting-edge tech with a ribbon cutting for an advanced biomanufacturing facility in New Albany, Ohio. 

Known as Amgen Ohio, the facility is designed to uphold the company’s reputation for quality and reliability. It will play a significant role in producing innovative biomedicines to address serious diseases, employing approximately 400 people across various roles.

The new facility “was designed with the latest innovation and technology to deliver safe, reliable medicines for ‘every patient, every time,’” said Bob Bradway, chairman and chief executive officer at Amgen. 

Amgen biomanufacturing facility will feature automation and AI

This new development aligns with Amgen’s previously announced plans, reported by Fierce Pharma in 2021, to build a “smart facility” in Ohio featuring advanced automation, AI, and data-driven manufacturing processes. The $365 million investment incorporates technologies such as highly automated storage and retrieval systems, collaborative robots (cobots), and AI-driven inspection and testing.  Data analytics will optimize manufacturing performance in real-time.

Amgen Ohio was built with speed, taking only 26 months from groundbreaking to FDA approval. The facility is designed with high environmental sustainability standards and supports Amgen’s carbon neutrality goals. Amgen is partnering with Columbus State Community College on a manufacturing apprenticeship program, expanding opportunities in the field.

The Ohio facility is part of Amgen’s ongoing expansion of U.S.-based manufacturing, with another site under construction in North Carolina.

Last year, Amgen wrapped up its nearly $28 billion acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics.

Intel is also building a $20 billion chip plant in New Albany, Ohio. 

Other plant announcements in pharma

Other pharma companies that have recently announced new plants across the world include Samsung Biologics, which began construction on a new South Korean plant with an investment of $1.46 billion. Boehringer Ingelheim broke ground on a new chemical innovation plant in Germany with projected costs of €285 million. Additionally, Lonza Group and Vertex Pharmaceuticals announced plans for a joint manufacturing facility in New Hampshire. Finally, Thermo Fisher Scientific opened a new sterile fill-finish facility in Singapore while Siegfried began construction on a new R&D center in Switzerland with an investment of CHF 25 million.