The investment strengthens the Tyrolean Kundl/Schaftenau campus as a leading biotech location in Europe and accelerates the continuous supply of biopharmaceutical products from Austria. The Schaftenau facility is expected to be fully operational in summer 2024, while the Kundl facility will go into operation in autumn 2025, creating 350 new highly qualified jobs on campus.
Novartis announced planned investments in Austria in February 2024 to align the manufacturing network with strategy and new technologies. As part of these highly innovative projects, two new cell culture facilities will be built at the long-standing sites in Kundl and Schaftenau in Tyrol. EUR 250 million will be invested in a facility in Kundl, which is scheduled to be completed by 2025 and will create 180 highly skilled jobs in production, quality assurance and support. At the Schaftenau facility, the already planned investments of approximately EUR 250 million, which will create 165 new jobs in production, quality assurance and support functions, are expected to be completed in the summer of this year.
“Innovative biopharmaceuticals open up new possibilities in medicine where classic drugs and therapies reach their limits. They offer new therapeutic options for various oncological, cardiovascular and immunological diseases. However, the complex biological active substances require a lot of experience and know-how in production, and we are proud that we have been able to build up this knowledge over decades. Our sites in Kundl and Schaftenau are among Novartis’ innovative production sites across Europe. As one of the leading Austrian pharmaceutical companies, we are very well positioned to further strengthen our production capacities and continue to supply patients in Austria, Europe and around the world with innovative medicines from Austria,” said Steffen Lang, President Novartis Operations.
Novartis has been producing biopharmaceutical products in Austria at the Cell Culture Competence Center in Schaftenau since 2004. With a cell cultivation volume of 1.8 million liters per year, this new investment creates a production facility with the highest output and ensures synergies with the existing facilities in the areas of production, quality assurance, infrastructure and support services. The facility is currently in the qualification phase and will be commissioned in summer 2024.
The production area in Kundl, which started operations in 1979, has unique know-how in biopharmaceutical production within the Novartis network for the manufacture of microbiology-based medicines. In the future, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), bispecific antibodies and other cell culture products will also be manufactured in a highly automated system. With up to 150 batches per year, the new system will significantly expand the existing microbiology-based production capacities.
