Genentech Begins $450 Million Expansion in Oceanside to Make New Drugs for Rare Diseases

Article originally published on Times of San Diego by Chris Jennewein

Genentech has begun a $450 million expansion of its biotech campus in Oceanside with a new facility that will produce complex drugs for rare diseases and personalized medicine.

The South San Francisco-based company plans “one of the most modern commercial-scale biotech manufacturing facilities in the world” able to simultaneously produce multiple medicines.

“As the founder of the biotechnology industry, Genentech pioneered the processes and technologies used to manufacture complex biologic medicines,” said CEO Alexander Hardy at the groundbreaking on Friday.

“After more than four decades of manufacturing innovation, we remain committed to our home state of California and continue to invest in new ways to bring medicines to patients quicker and more sustainably,” he added.

The company said the new manufacturing facility will serve as a model for “fast, efficient production of therapeutics for smaller patient populations, including personalized and rare disease medicines.”

The new facility will be in addition to the seven existing buildings on a 60-acre site on Antibody Way. It will be operational in early 2025 and support 150 new positions.