Milestone for the medicine of tomorrow

A state-of-the-art facility for the production of innovative biotechnological medicines is being built at the Teva site in Ulm. With the completion of the construction phase, an important milestone has now been reached. (Source: Teva Germany)

At the Ulm site, pharmaceutical manufacturer Teva is constructing a state-of-the-art facility for the production of innovative biotechnological medicines. The construction of the building and the installation of the production equipment have now been completed. This marks a significant milestone for the project called Genesis on the way to commissioning. Genesis is the world's largest investment by Teva in the production of biological medicines. At peak times, 1,400 construction workers worked in parallel in the eight-story building, which covers an area of 5,000 m². Once fully operational, around 300 employees will work there. A first milestone was the installation of the 15,000-liter bioreactors. The now completed pharmaceutical expansion marks the end of the construction phase.

"The pharmaceutical expansion includes the certification of more than 400 individual systems and requires thousands of tests for equipment, pipelines, filter systems, and other components," explains Stefan Fügenschuh, Managing Director of Teva's biopharmaceutical production at the Ulm site. This process requires close coordination and collaboration with several external suppliers and various internal teams.

Investment in the medicine of the future

Teva is investing a total of around 1 billion US dollars in biotechnological production at the Ulm site, most of it in Genesis. The project is thus an important component of Teva's global strategy, but only one part of the entire Ulm biotech production. Alongside the new Genesis facility, the existing biotech plants in Ulm have also been expanded. The future production structure in Ulm aims to facilitate access to cutting-edge medicines for patients worldwide. Biological medicines offer more therapeutic options, enabling targeted and gentler treatments for complex and sometimes life-threatening diseases.

"With Genesis, Teva is investing in the future because biopharmaceutical products are becoming increasingly important. Almost half of all newly approved medicines are now biopharmaceuticals," says Stefan Fügenschuh. "These medicines are used, for example, when the body can no longer produce certain proteins on its own, such as during chemotherapy or in cases of chronic kidney failure. Then we can help with our medicines," explains Stefan Fügenschuh.

Ulm becomes a biopharmaceutical hub

Teva's biotech strategy includes both the development and manufacturing of innovative biopharmaceuticals, i.e., original drugs, as well as biosimilars. These are very similar to an innovative biopharmaceutical and are equivalent in function, quality, and safety. Since they are less expensive than the original products, biosimilars are considered the generics of biotechnology. Currently, Teva has seven biopharmaceuticals on the market and approximately 20 programs for innovative biopharmaceuticals or biosimilars in various stages of development.

The company has been producing biopharmaceuticals at the Ulm site since 2006. The new biotech building is specifically designed for new and innovative antibody medicines. "Antibodies are the most complex biopharmaceuticals there are," says Stefan Fügenschuh. "They are produced by living cells. Here in Ulm, on a large scale: the largest bioreactors have a working volume of 15,000 liters."

Kick-off for the final phase

Now, employees can focus on the already initiated commissioning and qualification phase. This includes extensive testing runs to ensure that all systems are correctly installed and connected with all relevant components. The entire building is almost fully automated and digitized; everything must be perfectly coordinated. "The production of biopharmaceuticals is very complex and technologically demanding. This also places special requirements on the construction and commissioning of the plant," says Stefan Fügenschuh. "The completion of this phase will challenge our team again and will take some time. But we are encouraged by what we have achieved so far. Our expertise will help us better meet the needs of patients worldwide in the future. That motivates us all."