Fresenius Kabi is expanding its Melrose Park site into a manufacturing campus and will invest approximately $250 million over 10 years. The Melrose Park site manufactures generic, sterile injectable pharmaceuticals used in hospitals and clinics throughout the U.S. The multi-stage expansion is set to break ground in 2017.
 
Fresenius Kabi specializes in medicines and technologies for infusion, transfusion and clinical nutrition. The company’s U.S. headquarters is based in Lake Zurich, IL, and employs more than 1,500 people.
 
“We are creating a state-of-the-art pharmaceutical manufacturing campus that will be a showcase for our company and the production of injectable generic medicines,” said Steven R. Nowicki, senior vice president of Global Operations for North America, Pharmaceuticals Division at Fresenius Kabi. Fresenius Kabi operates more than 70 manufacturing sites across the globe and the Melrose Park location will be one of its largest.
 
The expansion will create multiple new buildings with fully automated aseptic filling lines using isolator technology, expanded lyophilization (freeze-drying) capabilities, formulation areas, a dedicated warehouse for raw materials and components, an administration building with conference center, labs, and office space.
 
“Our goal is to expand our U.S. manufacturing capabilities while ensuring continued compliance with increasing regulatory and quality requirements and improve production capacity and efficiency,” Mr. Nowicki added. “I’d like to personally thank Mayor Serpico of Melrose Park and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for their support as we developed our plans for this major development project.”