LYNNWOOD – Workers poured the last big concrete slab Friday for Berlex’s new drug manufacturing plant, bringing the 95,000-square-foot structure a step closer to scheduled completion next year.
The plant, which will cost an estimated $70 million to build and equip, will be the state’s first large-scale drug plant. Construction began in October.
Cathy Keck Anderson, a Berlex spokeswoman, said construction of the plant in the Opus Northpointe Corporate Campus off 164th Street SW is progressing well.
“Construction is moving along smoothly, and we’ve been very pleased with the permitting assistance of Snohomish County,” Anderson said.
Last week, an executive with Schering AG, Berlex’s German parent company, cited the county’s cooperation, saying it may help the plant open earlier than scheduled.
Winfried Haumesser, director of industrial operations and environment for Schering, made the comments during a business luncheon attended by County Executive Aaron Reardon and Gov. Christine Gregoire, who were on a trade mission to Europe. Haumesser added that the area’s cluster of biotechnology companies and pool of experienced workers will help to attract more biotech and biomedical firms.
Berlex’s plant, which will employ about 170 people, is scheduled to produce Leukine by late 2007 or 2008. An artificial form of a naturally occurring growth protein, Leukine fights off infections in cancer patients who have been through chemotherapy, bone-marrow or stem-cell transplants.
The drug also is in a late-stage study for the treatment of Crohn’s disease. Phase 1 and 2 studies have shown Leukine can produce promising results in patients with that debilitating ailment of the intestinal system.
Additionally, recent University of Texas research found that the drug, when combined with rituximab, produced a positive response in 79 percent of tested patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.
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