Daiichi Sankyo Propharma Co., Ltd.

An expansion process has already kicked off in Germany, with work on the project expected to wrap up by 2030 “at the latest,” Daiichi Sankyo said last week. After laying out plans to absorb a pair of production subsidiaries in October, Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo is doubling down on its quest to dominate the red-hot antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) field. Aiming to create an “international innovation center,” Daiichi is plugging roughly 1 billion euros ($1.08 billion) into an expansion of its production and development site in Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm, just north of the company’s European headquarters in Munich. The project—which is expected to create at least 350 new jobs by 2030—will equip the site to develop and manufacture future ADCs targeting malignancies like breast, lung and stomach cancers, Daiichi said in a recent press release. The expansion process has already kicked off, with work on the project expected to wrap up by 2030 “at the latest,” Daiichi said. The new ADC infrastructure being added at Pfaffenhofen is slated for completion by the end of 2026. Once the site’s ADC facilities are up and running, Daiichi figures it will “most likely rise to the top league of biotech companies” in the region. With a legacy spanning more than 60 years, the Pfaffenhofen site contributes “significantly” to Daiichi Sankyo’s global production capacity, the company says on its European website. Traditionally, the site has focused on manufacturing and developing medicines for cardiovascular diseases, including the stroke, thrombosis and pulmonary embolism drug edoxaban and the olmesartan product line for hypertension. Aside from adding ADC capabilities, the expansion has been tipped to boost capacity for the Pfaffenhofen site’s bread-and-butter work in cardiovascular disease. The investment will also strengthen the site’s quality assurance and logistics and help bring more renewable energy online, Daiichi added. The site manufactures both active pharmaceutical ingredients and solid dose forms like tablets and film-coated capsules, which Daiichi ships from Pfaffenhofen to more than 50 countries. “The fact that we will focus more on oncological therapies in Pfaffenhofen in the future is positive in two respects,” Matthias Kühn, Daiichi’s site manager at the facility, said in a statement. “On the one hand, we can make a significant contribution to the increased global demand for ADC cancer therapies. On the other hand, we are demonstrating our future viability and the top quality that we provide here.” The ADC field has been on the rise in recent years, yielding investments and acquisitions across the biopharma industry. While companies like Pfizer and Roche originally beat Daiichi to the regulatory finish line with their own ADCs, Daiichi and its AstraZeneca-partnered treatment Enhertu helped put the modality on the map. Daiichi is slated to keep that winning streak rolling through the rest of the decade, too, analysts at GlobalData predicted last summer. The analysts expect Daiichi’s ADC sales will top $10 billion by 2029, well ahead of the respective $5.8 billion and $3.6 billion GlobalData figures Seagen and Roche will generate with their ADCs in that same span. Looking beyond its pipeline and portfolio, Daiichi charted another ADC manufacturing move last fall when it unveiled an absorption-type merger of two of its subsidiaries—Daiichi Sankyo Propharma and Daiichi Sankyo Chemical Pharma—which is expected to go into effect on April 1, 2025. At the time, Daiichi said the merger was necessary to “stably supply” ADCs and accelerate the development of new modalities.

Welcome to Endpoints News’ manufacturing briefs, where we bring you essential updates on new builds, collaborations, recalls and more. This week, we look into Eli Lilly joining Redwire’s initiative to manufacture pharmaceuticals in space, as well as Exela Pharma’s recall of three injectables. Daiichi Sankyo is absorbing two of its wholly-owned manufacturing companies, Daiichi Sankyo Propharma and Daiichi Sankyo Chemical Pharma , effective April 2025. Announced on Tuesday, the move expands Daiichi’s capacity to supply and manufacture antibody-drug conjugates, as well as develop new modalities. You’ll get access to free articles each month, plus you can customize what newsletters get delivered to your inbox each week, including breaking news.

Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo plans to absorb its manufacturing companies Daiichi Sankyo Propharma and Daiichi Chemical Pharma to bolster its presence in the antibody-drug conjugate space. Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo plans to conduct an absorption-style merger of two wholly owned manufacturing companies in a bid to leverage its dominance in the antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) space. The mergers are expected to become effective April 1, 2025, Daiichi Sankyo said in a Tuesday release (PDF). Under such mergers, an absorbed company transfers its assets to the absorbing company. Afterward, the absorbing company continues to exist while the absorbed company ceases to exist. Daiichi is merging the firms in a bid to "further deepen the alignment between the manufacturing function and pharmaceutical technology development function" of its operations, the drugmaker said in the release.  No new shares will be issued, and no cash will be allocated as a result of the merger. No changes will be made in Daiichi Sankyo’s company name nor in the location of its headquarters. Analysts at GlobalData expect Daiichi Sankyo to dominate the burgeoning ADC space through 2029, with its sales in the market reaching $10 billion by that time. The forecast paints Daiichi as the runaway leader in the market, with Seagen and Roche following as distant second- and third-place players, respectively. GlobalData predicts that sales of Seagen and Roche's ADCs will reach $5.8 billion and $3.6 billion by 2029, respectively. Pfizer is in the process of acquiring Seagen in a $43 billion buyout. As for Daiichi, the company recently inked an ADC megadeal with Merck & Co. that could swell to a whopping $22 billion in value.