Roche and its Genentech unit plan to invest nearly $900 million in the next five years to expand global manufacturing. Roche will spend nearly $600 million to expand sites in Penzberg, German and Basel, Switzerland, while Genentech will invest more than $285 million to expand the Vacaville and Oceanside, CA sites.

The investment will support increasing demand for licensed biologic medicines, such as RoActemra, Kadcyla and Perjeta, as well as provide a foundation for the delivery of 39 investigational biologic medicines in the Roche pipeline.

In Penzberg, Germany, Roche will invest approximately $385 million toward increased manufacturing capacity and equipment refurbishment, adding around 200 employees. Construction of an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) production facility will begin in Basel, Switzerland through an investment of more than $210 million, which is expected to create 50 jobs. This investment will provide additional capacity and flexibility to support Roche’s first approved ADC, Kadcyla, and a further eight ADCs in clinical development.

Ian Clark, chief executive officer of Genentech, commented, “This investment and expansion will result in the addition of more than 250 new jobs at the Vacaville and Oceanside facilities over the next four years, bringing the total number of Genentech manufacturing jobs in California to close to 3,000.”

The company currently employs approximately 10,000 people in California. When the expansion is complete, Genentech’s Vacaville facility will not only be the largest producer of biologic medicines for the Roche Group but also the largest biotech manufacturing facility in the world, according to a Genentech statement.