News Release

Kyowa Hakko Kirin Completed of Construction for the Biopharmaceutical API Manufacturing Facility in the Takasaki Plant

August 2, 2016

Tokyo, Japan, August 2nd, 2016—Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd. (Tokyo: 4151, President and CEO: Nobuo Hanai, "Kyowa Hakko Kirin") has completed the construction of the HB6 Plant in the Takasaki Plant (Takasaki city, Gunma, Plant Manager: Hitoshi Arai) in August 2016.

The new HB6 facility is equipped with one of the largest bioreactors for recombinant animal cells (12,000 L bioreactor) to produce commercial active pharmaceutical ingredients. The purpose of this facility is to meet the needs of production capacity with the increasing demand of antibody drug and items in the future.The design concept of this facility includes multiproduct production with high productivity to be compliant with the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) for Japanese, U.S., and European drug products. Mainly monoclonal antibody drug substances will be produced, and the products will thus be supplied globally. The facility is planned to start its operations in 2016, and to begin commercial production after 2019.

The Kyowa Hakko Kirin Group companies strive to contribute to the health and well-being of people around the world by creating new value through the pursuit of advances in life sciences and technologies.

External Appearance of HB6 Plant

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New plant overview
Plant name: HB6 facility
Scale: Four stories, with total floor space of approx. 4,000m2. Built with steel frame
Investment: Approx. 7.1 billion yen
Purpose: Manufacture of biopharmaceutical API with a focus on monoclonal antibody drug substances.
Completion: April, 2016
Characteristics:
  1. Able to manufacture multiple biopharmaceutical products with high productivity.
  2. Equipped with a 12,000 L bioreactor, which is one of the largest of its kind in Japan
  3. Complies with GMP in Japan, the US, and the EU.
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