Amgen Begins Construction On New Biomanufacturing Plant In Central Ohio
Producing Medicines for the United States, the Plant Features Innovative Technologies and Advancements in Sustainability
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., Nov. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) today announced the groundbreaking of its newest biomanufacturing plant, located in New Albany, Ohio. The final product assembly and packaging plant will support the growing demand for Amgen's medicines in the United States and is expected to be operational by 2024.
"Amgen's choice to build a cutting-edge facility where approximately 400 Ohioans will assemble and package medicines that will positively benefit the lives of millions of those battling serious illnesses globally is great news for the state of Ohio," said Ohio Governor Mike DeWine. "Amgen's newest plant will be its most efficient and sustainable yet while showcasing the advantages of tapping into Ohio's biotech talent and ingenuity."
Arleen Paulino, senior vice president of Manufacturing at Amgen noted the reasons Amgen selected the Columbus region, "The positive business climate, access to a growing and diverse talent pool and the convenience from a logistics perspective were all important factors in our decision. We are very excited to be here and to build strong connections with the local community," she said.
"Amgen's ground-breaking represents an important milestone for the New Albany International Business Park," said William Ebbing, President of New Albany Company. "As we continue to diversify and expand the Business Park, we recognize the critical importance of the biotech industry and are thrilled that a globally recognized leader like Amgen selected New Albany for its expansion. We're looking forward to collaborating with Amgen as they establish operations here and become active members of the community."
Construction management for the project is being led by Turner Construction and design services are provided by CRB Group. "In building this site, we expect to invest $365 million," said Sam Guhan, vice president of Engineering at Amgen. "Environmental sustainability will be a priority, and we aspire for this plant to be LEED-certified and designed. We will maximize energy efficiency and waste reduction, advancing Amgen's plan to make our operations carbon neutral over the next several years."
The new site, now known as Amgen Ohio, will be led by Sandra Rodriguez-Toledo, vice president of Site Operations at Amgen Ohio. "When operational, Amgen Ohio will be a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, which will enable us to continue to bring new innovative medicines to every patient, every time," she said. "We have just begun hiring and will continue to open more roles in the future for technicians and engineers, along with quality assurance, quality control, administrative and management positions. I'm thrilled to be here in the Columbus region and am excited to welcome new employees to Amgen."
In October, Amgen was named one of the World's Best Workplaces™ by Great Place to Work®. Earlier this year, Amgen was named by Forbes as one of "America's Best Employers for Diversity" for the fourth straight year and also landed on the magazine's inaugural list of "America's Best Employers for New Graduates." Also this year, Amgen earned a perfect score – for the fourth consecutive year – on the Corporate Equality Index, the premier benchmarking report on corporate policies and practices related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer workplace equality.
Amgen, a founding member of the OneTen Coalition, a coalition of 35 of the world's largest, best-known companies plans to use its resources to change the employment paradigm for Blacks in the U.S. The Coalition aims to hire one million Black Americans into good-paying, family-sustaining jobs over the next ten years. To achieve this goal, Amgen will work with businesses, educational institutions and training partners to better develop, retain and advance diverse talent, focusing on Black Americans without four-year college degrees.
Amgen has been at the forefront of innovation in biologic medicines for more than 40 years, serving patients with serious illnesses across the therapeutic areas of oncology, inflammation, cardiovascular disease, bone health, neuroscience and nephrology.
Amgen has nearly 25,000 employees worldwide, including more than 14,000 in the U.S. with operations in California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Puerto Rico and Rhode Island. The Amgen Foundation is the principal channel for Amgen's corporate philanthropy and, to date, has contributed over $325 million to nonprofit organizations advancing excellence in science education and strengthening the communities where the company's employees live and work.
This news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on the current expectations and beliefs of Amgen. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including any statements on the outcome, benefits and synergies of collaborations, or potential collaborations, with any other company (including BeiGene, Ltd., Kyowa-Kirin Co., Ltd., or any collaboration to manufacture therapeutic antibodies against COVID-19), the performance of Otezla® (apremilast) (including anticipated Otezla sales growth and the timing of non-GAAP EPS accretion), the Five Prime Therapeutics, Inc. acquisition, or the Teneobio, Inc. acquisition, as well as estimates of revenues, operating margins, capital expenditures, cash, other financial metrics, expected legal, arbitration, political, regulatory or clinical results or practices, customer and prescriber patterns or practices, reimbursement activities and outcomes, effects of pandemics or other widespread health problems such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on our business, outcomes, progress, or effects relating to studies of Otezla as a potential treatment for COVID-19, and other such estimates and results. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, including those discussed below and more fully described in the Securities and Exchange Commission reports filed by Amgen, including our most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent periodic reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K. Unless otherwise noted, Amgen is providing this information as of the date of this news release and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this document as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual results may differ materially from those we project. Our results may be affected by our ability to successfully market both new and existing products domestically and internationally, clinical and regulatory developments involving current and future products, sales growth of recently launched products, competition from other products including biosimilars, difficulties or delays in manufacturing our products and global economic conditions. In addition, sales of our products are affected by pricing pressure, political and public scrutiny and reimbursement policies imposed by third-party payers, including governments, private insurance plans and managed care providers and may be affected by regulatory, clinical and guideline developments and domestic and international trends toward managed care and healthcare cost containment. Furthermore, our research, testing, pricing, marketing and other operations are subject to extensive regulation by domestic and foreign government regulatory authorities. We or others could identify safety, side effects or manufacturing problems with our products, including our devices, after they are on the market. Our business may be impacted by government investigations, litigation and product liability claims. In addition, our business may be impacted by the adoption of new tax legislation or exposure to additional tax liabilities. If we fail to meet the compliance obligations in the corporate integrity agreement between us and the U.S. government, we could become subject to significant sanctions. Further, while we routinely obtain patents for our products and technology, the protection offered by our patents and patent applications may be challenged, invalidated or circumvented by our competitors, or we may fail to prevail in present and future intellectual property litigation. We perform a substantial amount of our commercial manufacturing activities at a few key facilities, including in Puerto Rico, and also depend on third parties for a portion of our manufacturing activities, and limits on supply may constrain sales of certain of our current products and product candidate development. An outbreak of disease or similar public health threat, such as COVID-19, and the public and governmental effort to mitigate against the spread of such disease, could have a significant adverse effect on the supply of materials for our manufacturing activities, the distribution of our products, the commercialization of our product candidates, and our clinical trial operations, and any such events may have a material adverse effect on our product development, product sales, business and results of operations. We rely on collaborations with third parties for the development of some of our product candidates and for the commercialization and sales of some of our commercial products. In addition, we compete with other companies with respect to many of our marketed products as well as for the discovery and development of new products. Discovery or identification of new product candidates or development of new indications for existing products cannot be guaranteed and movement from concept to product is uncertain; consequently, there can be no guarantee that any particular product candidate or development of a new indication for an existing product will be successful and become a commercial product. Further, some raw materials, medical devices and component parts for our products are supplied by sole third-party suppliers. Certain of our distributors, customers and payers have substantial purchasing leverage in their dealings with us. The discovery of significant problems with a product similar to one of our products that implicate an entire class of products could have a material adverse effect on sales of the affected products and on our business and results of operations. Our efforts to collaborate with or acquire other companies, products or technology, and to integrate the operations of companies or to support the products or technology we have acquired, may not be successful. A breakdown, cyberattack or information security breach could compromise the confidentiality, integrity and availability of our systems and our data. Our stock price is volatile and may be affected by a number of events. Global economic conditions may magnify certain risks that affect our business. Our business performance could affect or limit the ability of our Board of Directors to declare a dividend or our ability to pay a dividend or repurchase our common stock. We may not be able to access the capital and credit markets on terms that are favorable to us, or at all.
Trish Rowland, 805-447-5631 (media)
Megan Fox, 805-447-1423 (media)
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