Seagen and NovoCure to Open New Manufacturing and Learning Facilities

A change in season calls for a change in scenery, according to two pharmaceutical companies with a focus on cancer treatment. Seagen, Inc. and NovoCure Ltd. have each announced plans to open new facilities in the coming years, expanding local employment opportunities and respective presences in the biotech industry.

Seagen, based in Washington, intends to use the 270,000 square-foot site to continue global manufacturing of biologics formulated with antibodies. The facility’s construction alone will create 150 jobs for the community of Everett, Washington. The finished building is expected to employ roughly 200 employees, beginning in 2024.

Additional Seagen offices are in California, Canada, Europe and Switzerland, with 2,800 people employed. The company’s oncology-focused portfolio includes therapeutics for cervical, breast, and bladder cancer, as well as for Hodgkin lymphoma. Seventeen additional R&D projects are underway, with hopes to broaden the company’s range of expertise to include hematologic disorders and solid tumors.

Seagen’s president and CEO, Dr. Clay Siegall, commented on the expansion. 

“In cancer research and development, Seagen must continue to be agile and flexible, especially in manufacturing, to advance our promising pipeline of medicines for people living with cancer and bring these medicines to patients as fast as possible. This new biomanufacturing facility is another way we are growing and expanding operations while also positioning ourselves to attract top-flight talent to drive our business priorities,” he said.

Following suit, NovoCure announced that ground has been broken on a new facility in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The facility will be designated a “world-class training and development center where partners from around the world can come to learn about Novocure’s Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) cancer therapy,” according to their press release. While an approximation was not provided in their statement, it is easy to anticipate hundreds of job openings as the facility is constructed and officially opened.

NovoCure is headquartered on the coast opposite Seagen, in New Jersey. Thus far, the company has expanded into Tokyo, Israel, and Root, Switzerland. The company’s portfolio of approved medications includes treatments for malignant pleural mesotheliomas and glioblastoma, to develop a widely-applicable cancer therapeutic.

“Employers like Novocure help ensure New Hampshire remains the best state in which to live, work, and raise a family,” New Hampshire Governor, Chris Sununu said. “Thanks to our pro-jobs agenda, New Hampshire is the #1 state for business in New England, and I would like to congratulate the whole Novocure team on the groundbreaking for their latest expansion!”

Earlier this year, NovoCure celebrated encouraging interim results of the Phase III INNOVATE-3 study, which evaluated the safety and efficacy of TTFields as a treatment for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. The treatment involves the use of electrical fields, TTFields, to interrupt rampant cancer cell proliferation. If successful, the treatment will be used as an add-on to other cancer treatments, such as radiation and chemotherapy. Other clinical studies include investigations for using TTFields to treat glioblastoma, liver, pancreatic and gastric cancer.