Boehringer invest €230m in new biologics facility

Boehringer Ingelheim is investing €230m in a biologicals development centre (BDC) which will create 100 jobs and focus on analytical and process development, and manufacturing of biologics for clinical trials. 40% of its pipeline are large-molecule drugs.

The BDC should be completed by 2020 and, according to Boehringer’s senior vice president of development Dr Fridtjof Traulsen, is “another key building block supporting the company’s long-term strategy for increasing the pipeline’s share of biologicals.” It will support Boehringer’s push into immunology and immuno-oncology which includes its portfolio of biosimilar drugs, AbbVie-partnered interleukin-23 inhibitor risankizumab, anti-CD40 antibody BI 655064, IL-36 receptor inhibitor BI 655130 , and an array of vaccines, oncoytic viruses and T-cell engagers for cancer.