Dive Brief:
- Biotechnology company Amgen opened a $474 million final product assembly and packaging site in New Albany, Ohio, on Feb. 26, according to a company press release.
- The 300,000-square-foot facility near Columbus, Ohio, will assemble, label and package autoinjectors, syringes and vials for Amgen’s medicines, employing 400 people, an Amgen spokesperson told Manufacturing Dive in an email.
- Amgen is working with Columbus State Community College to host an 18-month manufacturing apprenticeship for hiring and training at the site, providing new opportunities for workers without a bachelor's degree.
Dive Insight:
The Ohio facility is the company’s most digitally advanced factory yet, including automated storage and retrieval systems and automated guided vehicles that will transport material. It will also use augmented reality headsets to provide digital instructions for training or remote assistance, the spokesperson said.
The site will be led by Sandra Rodriguez Toledo, vice president of site operations at Amgen Ohio.
Amgen initially announced plans to build the facility in June 2021. Construction of the site took 26 months from groundbreaking to approval by the Food and Drug Administration in January 2024.
The new facility is part of Amgen’s plan to expand its U.S. manufacturing capabilities. Another facility is currently under construction in North Carolina. Both facilities have well over 100 additional acres that could be developed to add capacity, Amgen CFO Peter Griffith said at the TD Cowen Health Care Conference on Tuesday.
Ohio is a hub for several firms producing medical products.
Last month, National Resilience announced a $225 million expansion at its Cincinnati facility, adding a fourth prefilled syringe line set for completion by 2025. Smiths Medical also has a manufacturing facility in Dublin, just west of New Albany, where the medical company produces a wide range of respiratory therapy products.
