The Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity and the Illinois Business and Economic Development Corporation (ILBEDC) announced that the contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) plans to develop a new production and distribution facility in Des Plaines, Illinois.
"Several Vetter customers have requested commercial manufacturing opportunities in both the US and Europe," Mr. Peter Soelkner, one of Vetter's Managing Directors told Outsourcing-Pharma.com.
"A successful purchasing activity supports the company’s 'ability to act' preparations that put Vetter in the position to offer its customer base greater flexibility in global manufacturing for the future," he said.
The company is interested in building the facility on the 18-acre site at the corner of Mount Prospect and Algonquin roads formerly occupied by the Salvation Army. The $320m facility is expected to create at least 300 new jobs.
"Our preliminary concept is to create a facility that offers our global customer base a US manufacturing opportunity for their market supply needs, complementing our existing US clinical development support service offering," said Soelkner, who added that no further details can be outlined at this early project stage.
While the facility will be the first of its kind for the company outside of Germany, Vetter currently operates a US production facility and sales office in Skokie, Illinois – the Vetter Development Service (VDS) Chicago facility.
VDS features clinical development and manufacturing capabilities ranging from Preclinical to Phase II with more than 30,000 square feet of aseptic development and filling technologies. The facility also houses an onsite microbiology and chemical analysis lab in addition to various other capabilities.
Vetter has signed an economic development agreement with the state of Illinois, which is pending approval from the Des Plaines City Council. As the company is currently in the middle of the purchasing process, no detailed time frame has been outlined regarding groundbreaking or completion. However, Soelkner said initial plans include a possible groundbreaking in 2018 or later. He added that it typically takes 3 to 5 years from time of groundbreaking to reach operational status.
Department of Commerce Acting Director Sean McCarthy described it as a “major win for Illinois.”
ILBEDC CEO Jim Schultz and Department of Commerce Assistant Director Andria Winters previously met with Vetter executives during a trip to Germany in April during Hanover Messe – an industrial technology trade fair.