Sandoz to build Slovenian biosimilar development facility

To support future growth of its biosimilar pipeline, Sandoz is planning to build a Biosimilar Technical Development Center in Slovenia.

The company intends to invest approximately $90 million at its site in Ljubljana, Slovenia, to establish a dedicated Sandoz Biopharma Development Center by 2026.

With this financial boost, the Ljubljana site is set to become a key location for biosimilar product development at Sandoz.

“The new Biosimilar Development Center in Ljubljana will …[help] Sandoz to meet rapidly rising global demand for biosimilars,” Claire D’Abreu Hayling, Chief Scientific Officer at Sandoz commented.

Through development of the new site, approximately 200 new full-time jobs will be created.

Supporting European biosimilar development

Continued investment in biosimilars

The planned financing builds on Sandoz’s announced investment in March 2023 of $400 million in a new biologics manufacturing plant in Lendava, Slovenia. This was the largest-ever international private-sector investment in the country, according to the company.

It also adds to news of the intended expansion of the firm’s biosimilar development capabilities at its facility in Holzkirchen, Germany in May 2023. Sandoz stated the investment of €25 million will bring together its highly advanced laboratories and analytical expertise at one site.

Importance of biosimilars

Particularly, biosimilars have a key role in helping to treat a range of serious conditions. They drive competition and cost savings, helping to address the rising financial pressures faced by global healthcare systems. In March 2023, Sandoz’s CEO Richard Saynor acknowledged that biosimilars are “projected to grow double-digit annually over the next decade.”

Currently, Sandoz has a portfolio of eight marketed biosimilars and also 24 molecules in various stages of drug development.

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