Roche to divest from biologics manufacturing facility in Vacaville, California

Roche has announced their plans to divest from their legacy Genentech biologics manufacturing facility as part of a larger operations strategy after emailed letters were sent to facility employees informing them of the decision.

In a statement, the drugmaker stated plans to divest its legacy Genentech manufacturing facility as part of larger plans to develop broader strategies in the evolution of its manufacturing capabilities to meet therapeutic pipeline requirements. One of the oldest manufacturing sites under the Roche network, the facility specialises in large-scale production of biologics. The facility was purchased over 10 years ago with the purchase of US-based biotech Genentech by Roche. Drug products manufactured at the facility include cancer therapeutics Avastin and Herceptin. Actemra for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis is also produced at the Vacaville plant. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Roche collaborated with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals to ramp up supply of Regeneron’s COVID-19 antibody treatment, which was achieved at the Vacaville plant. 

In emails sent to employees of the Vacaville facility, the company stated that they did not expect the large volumes of biologics medicines produced by the site to be needed, with production to be shifted to a newer plant. Roche stated their intention to initiate a process of finding a buyer for the site, which is to be announced in due course. If a suitable investor cannot be found, plans will shift to ramping down operations towards a closure in 2028/2029.  

Global Head of Pharma Technical Operations at Roche Susanne Hundsbaek-Pedersen stated: “The Vacaville site has a 25-year legacy of producing innovating medicines for millions of patients around the world. We aim to find a buyer who shares our values and respects the contributions and expertise of our colleagues at the facility.” Hundsbaek-Pedersen also assured that there would be no immediate effect to operations or employees: “At this time, there is no impact to operations, or to our employees, and we are committed to treating our colleagues in Vacaville with care and compassion throughout the process.” 

Sources: 

1. Roche to Divest Legacy Genentech Facility in Vacaville, California, as Part of Long-term Strategy to Evolve Manufacturing Capabilities [Accessed June 1, 2023] https://assets.cwp.roche.com/f/126832/x/41d2555bb3/20230531_roche_to_divest_genentech_facility.pdf  

2. Exclusive: Roche looking to sell or shut down California biologic drug plant [Accessed June 1, 2023] https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/roche-looking-sell-vacaville-california-plant-email-2023-05-31/