AbbVie breaks ground on new R&D centre

Credit: Valeriya Zankovych / Shutterstock.com

A new state-of-the-art research and laboratory building is being built on AbbVie’s main campus at its Rhineland-Palatinate site, the company’s second largest research and development (R&D) location globally. The central research building LUdwighafens neue Arbeitswelt (LUnA) will benefit from an investment of approximately €150 million.

Currently, the Rhineland-Palatinate site has over 2,000 employees, and LUnA will house over 300 researchers and scientists, according to AbbVie.

The facility will feature modern, sustainable infrastructure. Additionally, flexible working conditions will “enable greater scientific exchange between different areas of research and implement automation and digital research capabilities”, AbbVie shared.

Construction of the LUnA research building means AbbVie Germany “can conduct cutting-edge research at our site in the long term,” stated Martin Gastens, Vice President, Biologics Drug Product Development and Managing Director R&D, AbbVie Germany.

“Our Ludwigshafen site serves as a centre of excellence for both research and development and pharmaceutical manufacturing and will play a critical role in AbbVie’s future growth,” stated Azita Saleki-Gerhardt, PhD, Executive Vice President, Chief Operations Officer. “This new expansion represents the proud continuation of our decades-long partnership with Germany – where we have invested approximately €250 million euros since 2020.”

The R&D facility “will further strengthen scientific exchange between different areas of research,” explained Dr Tom Hudson, Senior Vice President, Global Research, Chief Scientific Officer, AbbVie. “I am particularly looking forward to seeing how we will further develop the future of laboratory automation and digital research in Ludwigshafen in our pursuit of discovering and developing breakthrough medicines for patients.”

The new R&D building in Germany is expected to completed in 2027.

AbbVie’s continued research and development

Last month, AbbVie announced positive topline results from its novel Phase IIIb/IV LEVEL UP clinical trial, which compared RINVOQ^® (upadacitinib) and DUPIXENT^® (dupilumab) in patients with atopic dermatitis. Positively, upadacitinib facilitated a “rapid” onset, enabling patients with a moderate-to-severe form of the condition to obtain “near complete skin clearance and no to little itch” in comparison to dupilumab.