Huge GSK, Novartis, Merck plants help define state's economic successes
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. April 28, 2009 — The global fight against swine flu is shining a spotlight on North Carolina's long-term commitment to biomanufacturing.
Global pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, whose North American headquarters is in Research Triangle Park, is one of the world's two key manufacturers of antiviral flu treatments. GSK makes Relenza at its plant in Zebulon, about 25 miles east of its headquarters campus.
GSK and Swiss drug company Roche, which makes Tamiflu, have notified the World Health Organization that this new strain of the swine flu virus, blamed for illnesses across North America and now throughout the world, seems to respond to their medicines.
Relenza is inhaled and Tamiflu is a tablet. They've been prescribed at the first sign of symptoms for several years to reduce the strength and duration of flu infections.
"When we're called upon to tackle these kinds of disease outbreaks, North Carolina's excellent base of medical research and pharmaceutical manufacturing puts us among global leaders," said E. Norris Tolson, president and CEO of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. "It reinforces our deep and longstanding commitment to biotechnology. There's no better place in the world to make medicines."
(Photos courtesy of Diosynth Inc.)
North Carolina has invested $1.2 billion in steady bioscience growth during the past decade, said Tolson. "Some states aren't so interested in manufacturing. But at times like these, it becomes clear why these science-driven factories are so crucial."
Hundreds of workers at GSK's Zebulon plant have made the medicines that supply the world for more than two decades. Meanwhile, some 700 workers converge each weekday on the grounds of a history-making, 430,000-square-foot factory under construction at the edge of Holly Springs, about 20 miles southwest of Raleigh.
The flu-vaccine plant being built by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG is the largest biomanufacturing project under construction in the United States. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has promised $487 million for construction in order to strengthen the country's supply of vaccine for use against seasonal flu or outbreaks like this one.
Novartis had the world to choose from. But company officials said they chose North Carolina because of its welcoming business environment, highly skilled workforce, low cost of doing business and excellent quality of life.
About 45 miles north of the Novartis factory, in Durham, Merck recently dedicated its new $750 million vaccine-manufacturing plant. During the dedication ceremony, Merck chairman, president and CEO Richard Clark said that as he travels the world, he's frequently buttonholed by civic leaders who want a Merck facility in their communities.
"I tell them, 'If you want to know how to get us, go visit North Carolina and find out how they do it. Then call me.'
"I'm now an ambassador for North Carolina," he said, citing Merck's dependence upon the state's workforce training programs and many other attributes that eased his firm's decision on where to locate this facility, its second major manufacturing plant in the state.
The state's biomanufacturing capabilities extend beyond flu vaccine. Now, more than 50 companies manufacture biologics, pharmaceuticals and diagnostics across North Carolina. Besides GSK, Novartis and Merck, they include a virtual Who's Who of bioscience — Biogen Idec, Novozymes, Pfizer, Talecris and Wyeth, plus some of the world’s largest contract manufacturers, such as Diosynth Biotechnology in Research Triangle Park and DSM in Greenville. Their products fight multiple sclerosis, prevent childhood diseases, treat hemophilia, power industrial processes, and hold the secret for producing renewable fuels.
North Carolina has a long history of manufacturing excellence. But as the state's traditional economic stalwarts such as tobacco, textiles and furniture faced increasing global challenges, state leaders tapped the power of North Carolina's world-class academic institutions to build a science-based economy stretching from the mountains to the coast.
In the process, the state refocused its manufacturing education systems in some unique ways:
- The North Carolina Community Colleges' BioNetwork program connects more than 20 community colleges offering biotechnology training. BioNetwork is anchored by seven centers specializing in specific aspects of the industry.
- The Golden LEAF Biomanufacturing Training & Education Center on North Carolina State University's Centennial Campus in Raleigh, provide hands-on training with commercial-scale equipment.
- The Biomanufacturing Research Institute and Technology Enterprise, also funded by Golden LEAF, at North Carolina Central University in Durham offers bachelors and masters degrees in the pharmaceutical and related life sciences.
These and similar programs across the state trained or re-trained many of the 20,000 people who work at North Carolina's biological production and manufacturing companies. And that's just a part of the larger life-science industry, which employs more than 56,000 people at 500-plus bioscience companies.
"Skilled labor is the engine that drives successful biomanufacturing operations," said Bill Bullock, the Biotechnology Center's vice president of bioscience industrial development. "North Carolina has spent nearly $100 million building and refining that engine. Add to that the fact that we're already home to some of the world's best universities and the world's largest concentration of contract research organizations and what you have is an incredible environment for bioscience research, development and manufacturing.
"Also, of the top biotech states, North Carolina's cost of doing business is by far the lowest. So we're going to keep making sure biomanufacturers give us a good look when they consider setting up a new facility."
Added Tolson, "Biomanufacturers have found a comfort zone in North Carolina. We're glad of it. And increasingly, the world is becoming glad of it too."
Contact: Chris Brodie, vice president of corporate communications, at 919-541-9366.