ASTRAZENECA plans to hire more than 800 employees in Singapore including engineering, technical services and global supply chain roles at its upcoming US$1.5 billion Singapore manufacturing facility in Tuas South.
This was disclosed as the biopharmaceutical multinational broke ground for the site on Thursday (Nov 7) in the presence of the event’s guest of honour, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong.
At 58 acres or about 23 hectares, the site will mark AstraZeneca’s largest to date in terms of initial build investment.
It is targeted to be operationally ready by 2029 to produce antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) on a commercial scale, while fully incorporating all steps of the treatment’s manufacturing process.
AstraZeneca said its upcoming facility represents the group’s first end-to-end ADC production site globally.
Production of ADCs typically involves multiple steps comprising antibody production, synthesis of chemotherapy drug and linker, conjugation of drug-linker to the antibody, and filling of the completed substance into vials.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
Unlike conventional chemotherapy treatments that can damage healthy cells, ADCs deliver chemotherapy agents directly to cancer cells.
Using two antigen binding sites and a drug joined to the antibody by a linker, the two sites enable the ADC to bind to membrane proteins that are present in a cancer cell before the antibody component is degraded.
Impact to healthy cells is thus minimised, while the cancer cell is destroyed.
Pam Cheng, executive vice-president for global operations and IT, as well as chief sustainability officer for AstraZeneca, said that the facility will be designed to emit zero carbon from its first day of operations.
Jacqueline Poh, managing director of the Singapore Economic Development Board, said: “Beyond creating meaningful jobs for Singaporeans, AstraZeneca’s facility is aligned with Singapore’s push towards sustainable manufacturing and national target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.”
She added: “This greenfield investment will add significant capabilities to Singapore’s growing biopharmaceutical sector, especially in the development and manufacturing of precision medicines for better healthcare outcomes.”
AstraZeneca currently has a portfolio of six wholly owned ADCs, and said it has “many more” in preclinical development.
The group’s proprietary ADC technology is applicable across multiple tumour types including breast, endometrial and ovarian cancers.
