Schering-Plough Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of pharmaceutical giant Schering-Plough Corporation, will build four new production facilities in Tuas, Singapore. The project, worth USD 450 million, includes a multi-product bulk manufacturing facility, a biotechnology sterile manufacturing facility, an oral solid dosage manufacturing facility and a research & development facility. The multi-product bulk manufacturing plant will be a primary production facility to manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients for new Schering-Plough products, including ezetimibe, a cholesterol absorption inhibitor that is currently in Phase III clinical studies. The biotechnology sterile facility will provide additional capacity for manufacturing two new biotech products, peginterferon alfa-2b, a longer acting form of alpha interferon, and REMICADE(R) (infliximab), an anti-inflammatory agent for Crohn’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis licensed from Centocor. The technology employed at this new facility will be modelled after Schering-Plough’s current biotechnology production site in Brinny, Ireland. The oral solid dosage manufacturing facility will produce finished pharmaceutical products using active ingredients manufactured in the primary production facility. The oral solid dosage facility is expected to manufacture ezetimibe tablets and a combination of loratadine and montelukast sodium, both of which are the subject of US joint ventures with Merck & Co., Inc. and undergoing clinical trials. The R&D facility will house a pilot plant and development laboratories to facilitate technology transfer from Schering-Plough Research Institute in New Jersey, and will supply materials for late-phase clinical trials.
