Baxter Builds Bigger Admixing Facility For Canadian Market
By Cyndi Root
Baxter continues to expand its pharmaceutical manufacturing efforts, investing $10 million for a bigger admixing facility to serve the Canadian market. The company announced the move in a press release, stating that new facility will be triple the size of the current Centralized Intravenous Admixing Pharmacy Service (CIVA). Baxter states that the expansion will allow it to better supply hospitals and other healthcare facilities with ready-to-administer intravenous (IV) admixtures. The current facility is in Alliston, Ontario, and the new facility will be located in Mississauga, Ontario, about 50 miles away. Mike Oliver, President of Baxter Corporation, said, "Pharmacy practice is a dynamic environment and since its inception Baxter CIVA has worked closely with healthcare partners to develop innovative solutions.”
The current facility manufactures intravenous (IV), peritoneal dialysis, and hemodialysis solutions. Baxter expects the new site to manufacture chemotherapeutics and anti-infectives as well. Additionally, due to the doubling of clean rooms, Baxter intends to conduct hazardous and non-hazardous IV admixing on a customized basis.
Baxter states that the current facility measures 180,000 square feet. Tripling the size would make the new facility over 500,000 square feet. The company expects to open the facility in 2015 and conduct a transitioning process from the old facility.
Minister Brad Duguid, Ontario Ministry of Economic Development, Employment, and Infrastructure, commented, “Baxter has been a long-standing healthcare leader and innovation partner in Ontario, and our growing life sciences ecosystem and innovation agenda has greatly benefited from their leadership to date.”
Baxter Manufacturing
Baxter established its first manufacturing facility in Canada in 1940 and now has the site in Alliston, soon moving to Mississauga and a 35,000 square-foot facility in Sherbrooke, Quebec. The company states that it has over 50 manufacturing facilities in 26 countries.
In September 2014, Baxter Biopharma Solutions, the contract manufacturing organization (CMO) division of Baxter International, announced in a press release that it had entered into a partnership with SAFC Commercial, a Sigma-Aldrich company, on antibody drug conjugates (ADCs). SAFC brings conjugation and drug linker expertise to the collaboration and Baxter contributes its sterile fill/finish capabilities.
In June 2014, Oasmia Pharmaceutical announced a contract extension with Baxter BioPharma Solutions for large-scale manufacturing of an Oasmia oncology candidate.