B-MS completes land purchase for new production site

US drug major Bristol-Myers Squibb has completed the land purchase of an approximately 89-acre site from MassDevelopment for its new large-scale, multi-product bulk biologics manufacturing facility in Devens, Massachusetts. The company and MassDevelopment have also finalized agreements related to the facility's utility infrastructure, including waste water treatment and use of electricity, water and natural gas. Construction is expected to begin within the next several weeks, and the facility is projected to be operationally complete in 2009. The company plans to submit the site for regulatory approval in 2010.

The new Devens facility is expected to support increased production capacity for commercially-available biologic compounds, such as Orencia (abatacept), and help meet future production needs for products currently in development, including the company's investigational treatments for solid organ transplant rejection and certain types of cancers. Investment costs were not disclosed.