Akzo Nobel has announced a new EUR 18 million investment for its Pharma business unit Diosynth to increase its biopharmaceutical upstream manufacturing capacity in Oss, The Netherlands. âThrough this new investment we will realise part of the synergy potential between a recent US acquisition and our biotechnology business in the Netherlands,â? said Johan Evers, General Manager of Diosynth. âIn November 2000 we opened our state-of-the-art purification and isolation unit in Oss, and we also started the construction of a cell culturing and fermentation unit. In June 2001 we acquired Covance Biotechnology Services Inc. â now called Diosynth RTP â in the US, with its large development and manufacturing organisation and a strong commercial network in the US,â? Evers added. âNow we are taking the next step in our biotechnology strategy by expanding our capacity for large scale production of biopharmaceuticals, with reactor volumes of up to 18 cubic metres. The extra capacity on the Oss site will serve the combined needs of Diosynth in Europe and Diosynth RTP in North America, enhancing our ability to meet increased market demand on both continents,â? explained Evers. Diosynth expects that the new facility will come on stream by the end of 2003.
