Large-Scale Manufacturing Plant Now Operational
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Biogen, Inc. (Nasdaq: BGEN) announced today that it has been chosen by Fluor
Corporation as a 2001 Project Excellence Award winner for its large-scale
manufacturing plant (LSM) in its Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
facility.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990824/BIOLOGO )
For over a decade, Fluor Corporation, a global engineering and
construction services company, has presented the Hugh K. Coble Project
Excellence Award to recognize outstanding project team performance. Biogen's
LSM was chosen from over 800 active efforts for this prestigious award. Fluor
Corporation provided the engineering, procurement, construction, and
validation services for the project.
This manufacturing facility is the latest example of Biogen's expertise in
world-class protein manufacturing, both in quality and scale. Fluor cited the
facility for its exceptional design, innovative modular construction methods,
and strong safety record. The $173 million project finished one month ahead
of schedule. Biogen has begun manufacturing product in the LSM in order to
complete the validation requirements necessary for regulatory authorities to
approve the facility for commercial use.
In July 1999, Biogen broke ground on the LSM, a 250,000 square foot large-
scale manufacturing plant with the capability to run up to 120,000 liters of
bioreactor capacity. It is one of the largest cell culture manufacturing
facilities in the world. Once the LSM is approved for commercial use, it will
have the flexibility to manufacture multiple products in the company's
pipeline.
Sylvie Gregoire, Pharm. D., Biogen's Executive Vice President for
Technical Operations said, "Biogen was pleased to partner with Fluor to build
a world-class manufacturing facility that we are confident has achieved an
industry benchmark. We began manufacturing product just 32 months after
groundbreaking, and we are enjoying a seamless start-up of the facility. The
LSM provides us with multi-product capacity and continues our commitment to
being a leader in biologics manufacturing."
About Fluor
Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR) provides services on a global basis in the
fields of engineering, procurement, construction, operations, maintenance, and
project management. Headquartered in Aliso Viejo, California, Fluor is a
Fortune 500 company with revenues of $9 billion in fiscal year 2001. For more
information, visit: http://www.fluor.com.
About Biogen
Biogen, Inc., winner of the U.S. National Medal of Technology, is a
biotechnology company principally engaged in discovering and developing drugs
for human healthcare through genetic engineering. Headquartered in Cambridge,
MA, the Company's revenues are generated from U.S. and European sales of
AVONEX(R) (Interferon beta-1a) for treatment of relapsing forms of multiple
sclerosis, (Please see full prescribing information at
http://www.avonex.com.), and from the worldwide sales by licensees of a number
of products, including alpha interferon and hepatitis B vaccines and
diagnostic products. Biogen's research and development activities are focused
on novel products to treat inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, neurological
diseases, cancer, fibrosis and congestive heart failure. The Company
maintains active clinical research programs in protein therapeutics, small
molecules, genomics and gene therapy. For copies of press releases and
additional information about the Company, please consult Biogen's homepage on
the World Wide Web at http://www.biogen.com.
Media Contact:
Amy Brockelman
Manager, Public Affairs
Biogen, Inc.
Tel: (617) 679-3860
Investment Community Contact:
Christina Dillon
Manager, Investor Relations
Biogen, Inc.
Tel: (617) 679-2521
SOURCE Biogen, Inc.
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.fluor.com
http://www.biogen.com
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/101550.html
Photo Notes:
NewsCom:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990824/BIOLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, 888-776-6555 or 212-782-2840
CONTACT:
Amy Brockelman, Manager, Public Affairs,
+1-617-679-3860; or Investment Community: Christina Dillon,
Manager, Investor Relations, +1-617-679-2521, both of Biogen,
Inc.
|
