Sartorius opens manufacturing facility for cell culture media in Puerto Rico
Yauco, Puerto Rico, July 18, 2023
- Official opening of 21,500-square-foot manufacturing area at the existing Yauco site
- Expansion of capacities for manufacturing powder media with focus on the Americas region
Sartorius, a leading international partner of life science research and the biopharmaceutical industry, has added a cell culture media manufacturing facility to its existing site in Yauco, Puerto Rico. The 21,500-square-foot (2,000 square meters) facility, which was officially opened today, will expand the company’s cell culture media capacities, with a focus on customers in the Americas region. Production has started in spring 2023 and will increase to larger capacities until the end of the year.
Cell culture media are growth substances and nutrients for cells that are required in every biopharmaceutical production process. The new state-of-the-art facility in Yauco enables Sartorius to supply high-quality, regulatory-friendly powder media. These media are used in the manufacturing of therapeutic proteins and other modalities.
"The new cell culture media production in Yauco is part of our global capacity expansion program and is an important building block in the Sartorius manufacturing network. It will further strengthen our comprehensive portfolio for customers, particularly in the Americas region. Additionally, it underlines our commitment to Puerto Rico as well as the local team and reinforces the site’s significance in our efforts to assist customers in developing and manufacturing biopharmaceutical drugs faster and more efficiently," said René Fáber, member of the Executive Board and Head of the Bioprocess Solutions division at Sartorius.
“Sartorius is a sign of the confidence that pharmaceutical companies and their suppliers continue to have regarding their operations in Puerto Rico. This is due to the island’s extensive experience in this industry, which is supported through a specialized and world-renowned workforce, coupled with the incentives to do business in Puerto Rico and its strategic location to reach the markets of the Americas region,” said Manuel Cidre Miranda, secretary of the Department of Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC).
Yauco was the company’s first manufacturing site outside of Germany and officially started production in 1983. Since then, Sartorius has been manufacturing filters in Yauco and, since 2012, the company has also been producing sterile single-use bags there. Currently, Sartorius employs over 1,200 at its Yauco site.
