Kyowa Kirin board approves new $530M biologics plant in North Carolina

Kyowa Kirin announced that its board of directors approved plans to invest up to $530 million to build a new pharmaceutical manufacturing facility.

The Japan-based company plans to build a new, state-of-the-art facility in Sanford, North Carolina. It expects the 171,700-square-foot, two-reactor facility to accelerate the development and production of biologic therapies for rare and serious diseases.

Kyowa Kirin plans to manufacture biologic therapies, such as next-generation antibodies, for planned clinical trials and future commercial use. It also hopes the facility creates more resilient and efficient supply lines that more readily withstand shifting global forces. The 75-acre campus at Helix Innovation Park will allow for future expansion as well if Kyowa Kirin needs greater capacity as its pipeline programs advance.

The company expects to begin construction in the second half of 2024. It anticipates having full operations in swing in 2027. In addition to the $530 million investment by the company, performance-based state and local incentives of $10 million over 12 years aim to further the company’s footprint. Kyowa Kirin expects to create more than 100 new local jobs at the plant, with an average salary of $91,496.

“I am very excited that Kyowa Kirin is constructing a new manufacturing plant for biologics drug substance in the United States,” said Toshiyuki Kurata, chief supply chain officer, and global manufacturing head. “The new facility will be scalable with our Takasaki Plant in Japan to help ease technology transfer between the two plants and add production capacity. We believe this will help accelerate drug development and production.”