Cipla to pump $89M into building South African biosimilars plant
India’s Cipla said it will invest $89 million (1.3 billion rand) to build a new production facility in South Africa that will focus on the manufacturing of biosimilars.
The plant, which is being touted at the first bio-cluster facility on the African continent, will produce biosimilar drugs made from living organisms that would be used in the treatment of cancer and other diseases. Construction is expected to start early next year, with full operations likely to begin by 3Q 2018, The Financial Express reported.The company’s CEO, Subhanu Saxena, told the newspaper that the manufacturing base in South Africa will give the company opportunities for supply chain partners and related companies to become involved in the market.The site for the plant wasn’t cited in the Express story.Earlier this year, Cipla entered the U.S. market when it acquired a 350,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Long Island as part of its $550 million buyout of InvaGen Pharmaceuticals, a Hauppauge, NY-based generics maker with 32 products on the market and 30 in the pipeline. Cipla also acquired Exelan Pharmaceuticals, a Lawrenceville, GA, operation that markets and sells InvaGen products into the government and institutional markets.by Joseph Keenan | Jul 12, 2016
Source: http://www.fiercepharma.com/
