Got a spare $85m? Amgen's ex-Epogen site in CO up for grabs
The biopharma firm announced in February 2014 it was suspending all manufacturing operations at its Longmont, Colorado and nearby Lake Centre facilities, but after putting the site on the market last month it has now enlisted the services of real estate firm Binswanger.
According to the brochure, the site comprises of six buildings totalling 692,000 sq ft across 70 acres of land: a central utility plant, a manufacturing building, a quality control lab and admin building, a process development and analytical science lab, a central warehouse, and an office block.
The site had been dedicated to make the firm’s human erythropoietin product Epogen (Epoetin alfa) used to treat anaemia, commonly associated with chronic renal failure and cancer chemotherapy.
However, the decision to cease production in April 2014 was based on Amgen’s product and pipeline requirements, with a spokesperson at the time telling this publication the firm had enough of the drug to meet its required demand.
There are currently several biosimilars of Epogen available in Europe, including versions made by Sandoz and Hospira.
While the property will set you back an estimated $85m (€72m), there are opportunities to pick up some of the manufacturing equipment used by Amgen at several upcoming auctions being hosted by Heritage Global Partners which is looking to offload everything from stainless steel bioreactors, to Agilent HPLC (high performance liquid chromatography) systems, to laboratory glassware.
