OREANDA-NEWS. Pfizer Inc. today broke ground for its new biologics clinical manufacturing facility in Andover, Massachusetts. Expanding the company’s presence in the state, Pfizer will invest more than $200 million in development of the 175,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art facility that will enable the production of high-quality, complex biologics and vaccines. The new 5-story building is expected to be operational by January 2019. Approximately 75 new employees will be hired to support clinical manufacturing. In addition to the Andover campus, Massachusetts is home to Pfizer’s Research and Development hub in Cambridge. Pfizer has approximately 2,000 employees based in Massachusetts.

Pfizer’s Andover campus currently includes 7 buildings which house laboratories, clinical and commercial manufacturing suites, and support areas. It also includes a multiproduct manufacturing facility, which allows clinical and commercial products to be manufactured simultaneously, supporting a range of Pfizer product supply.

The new clinical manufacturing facility is designed with 5 independent manufacturing suites to support Pfizer’s highly complex and diverse biologics research effort. The facility will:

  • Employ flexible design to fully enable Next Generation Manufacturing strategies
  • Leverage state-of-the-art single-use bioreactors and disposable process technologies
  • Provide clinical manufacturing options with the lowest cost and greatest flexibility for efficiently driving important clinical drugs to patients

“The expansion of Pfizer’s presence in Andover will provide state-of-the-art manufacturing to help bring new medicines and vaccines to the patients we serve,” said John Ludwig, senior vice president, BioTherapeutics Pharmaceutical Sciences in Pfizer R&D. “Andover is a crucial part of our global footprint for both clinical and commercial manufacturing, and we believe it provides an attractive location for growth in the coming years.”

"Pfizer's decision to expand their campus in Andover speaks to the Commonwealth's continued global leadership in biopharma and our administration's support of the growing advanced manufacturing sector," said Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito. "We are pleased to have Pfizer operating in Andover, Boston and Cambridge and look forward to their ongoing contributions to the Massachusetts's economy and wellbeing of our citizens.”

“This five-story building will add 75 new permanent manufacturing jobs and 200 temporary construction jobs to Pfizer’s Andover campus, already home to 1,200 employees,” Senator Barbara L’Italien said. “This project is a testament to Pfizer’s commitment to Andover and I look forward to the facility opening in early 2019.”