Pfizer to invest $21m in Australian filgrastim plant

15-Mar-2016 - Last updated on 10-Feb-2017 at 08:55 GMT

Pfizer facility in Adelaide suburb Thebarton

Pfizer has said it will invest $21m to expand a plant in Adelaide, Australia which will manufacture a candidate biosimilar version of Amgen’s white blood cell booster, Neulasta.

The US drug firm announced the expansion plan last week after securing a lease on land next to its existing plant in the Adelaide suburb Thebarton.

Pfizer said filgrastim made at the facility will be shipped to a plant in Zagreb, Croatia owned by its Hospira subsidiary for pegylation, packaging and distribution.

The construction phase of the project has already been completed according to site director Tony Mulcahy, who said: “There are still a few stages to complete before we commence full-scale production, but everything is running to plan.”

The site is expected to be fully operational this year and create 100 jobs.

The Pfizer drug – codenamed HSP-130 – is a biosimilar version of Amgen's Neulasta. It is currently being examined in clinical trials in Australia and Hungary as a treatment for neutropenia in patients undergoing cancer therapy.

The US drug firm also intends to make other biologics at the facility according to Pfizer Australia managing director David Gallagher, who said the site “will become the largest biologic medicine manufacturer of its type in Australia.”