ISPE, a global not-for-profit association of 24,000 technical professionals working in the manufacturing and drug development sectors of the pharmaceutical industry, announced during the Keynote Session at its 2009 Annual Meeting in San Diego, California, USA, that Roche Pharma Biotech Production Basel’s Monoclonal Anti Bodies (MAB) 95 Facility is the overall winner of the 2009 Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) program. Located in Basel, Switzerland, Roche’s unique vertical MAB Facility was named the overall 2009 Facility of the Year Award winner in part because of the innovative way in which it was planned, designed, and constructed on the site of a former chemical production plant in a busy residential area. Through teamwork, innovative design, and precise construction management, the state-of-the-art project was successfully realized in only 35 months, six weeks ahead of an already aggressive schedule and nine percent under budget. Standing 40 meters tall with eight floors above ground and two floors underground, the small building footprint and absence of adjacent construction lay-down areas tested the ingenuity of the project team at every turn. To reduce congestion in and around the already tight project site, cutting-edge communication technology was applied whenever possible in the day-to-day running of the project. As the facility had to be arranged vertically, and as all systems were fully integrated, the normal option of sequential completion proved to be too slow when modeled in the schedule, forcing the project team to develop tactics to complete the whole facility as a single entity (i.e., work on everything in parallel). The 2009 FOYA Judging Panel felt that Roche’s project team competently faced these and many other project challenges to produce a truly cutting-edge manufacturing facility. Roche’s MAB 95 Facility was selected as the Overall 2009 Facility of the Year Award winner by a judging panel consisting of eight prominent pharmaceutical industry professionals. It was one of six Category Winners that included: · Aseptic Technologies, located in Gembloux, Belgium, winner of the Facility of the Year Award for Equipment Innovation · Centocor Biologics Ireland, located in Ringaskiddy, Cork, Ireland, winner of the Facility of the Year Award for Sustainability · Centocor R&D Schaffhausen, located in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, winner of the Facility of the Year Award for Facility Integration · hameln pharma, located in Hameln, Germany, winner of the Facility of the Year Award for Operational Excellence · Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals, located in Aurangabad, India, winner of the Facility of the Year Award for Regional Excellence In addition, GlaxoSmithKline Manufacturing was awarded an Honorable Mention for the company’s project in Verona, Italy. Sponsored by ISPE, INTERPHEX, and Pharmaceutical Processing magazine, the Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) recognizes state-of-the-art pharmaceutical manufacturing projects that utilize new and innovative technologies to enhance the delivery of a quality project, as well as reduce the cost of producing high-quality medicines. Now in its sixth year, the awards program effectively spotlights the accomplishments, shared commitment, and dedication of individuals in companies worldwide to innovate and advance pharmaceutical manufacturing technology for the benefit of all global consumers.