Seagen is expanding its manufacturing capacity in the Seattle area. The fast-growing global biotech company will build a 270,000 square-foot facility to make antibody-based drugs north of its U.S. headquarters in Bothell, Washington.
The new facility will be built from the ground up and will produce products for both commercial use and for clinical trials.
The company markets four antibody-based therapies for various cancers and has more than 17 oncology programs in its research and development pipeline. The facility, based in Everett, will build on the company’s existing 51,000 square foot manufacturing site in Bothell.
“This new biomanufacturing facility is another way we are growing and expanding operations while also positioning ourselves to attract top-flight talent to drive our business priorities,” said Seagen CEO and President Clay Siegall in a statement announcing the new facility Wednesday.
The company currently has approximately 2,800 employees, and the new facility will employ about 200 more when it is completed, said Siegall Wednesday at the Life Science Innovation Northwest meeting.
The new plan highlights how Seagen has deepened is roots in the Seattle region while expanding globally. About 1,600 of its current employees are in the Pacific Northwest, and the rest are at company locations in California, Canada, Switzerland and the European Union. Seagen’s approach to making its products currently also involves partnerships with contract drug manufacturers in the U.S. and Europe.
Seagen’s new building will build on the growth of biopharma manufacturing in the suburbs of Seattle. Bothell is home to cell therapy manufacturing facilities for Bristol Myers Squibb and Lyell Immunopharma, which announced completion of its plant in March. Just-Evotec Biologics unveiled a 130,000 square foot facility for antibody-based drugs in Redmond last summer. The new Seagen building will be located at 215 Shuksan Way.
