Pharmaceutical company Pfizer has been announced as Facility Integration Winner at the 2020 Facility of the Year (FOYA) Awards for the development of a new, 175,000 sq ft, state-of-the-art manufacturing site; a project in which JBT’s A&B Process Systems played a significant part, working closely with Pfizer in the design, manufacture and installation of bioreactor skids, CIP skids and biowaste systems.
Launched in 2015, Pfizer’s “Project Indigo” involved the relocation of clinical manufacturing capabilities from Chesterfield, Missouri to a new facility on the existing Pfizer Andover, Massachusetts, campus, as part of a move to expand clinical biological drug substance manufacturing capacity from 14 to 21 campaigns per year.
A&B’s brief was to provide super skids for the site to Pfizer’s specifications, successfully winning the contract after submitting an initial proposal. The project would feature the bespoke design of two bioreactor skids – one bioculture and another for dual use, with tanks, automation and platforms – as well as three Clean-In-Place (CIP) skids and two biowaste systems.
A&B custom fabricates complete process systems into skidded modular process systems
According to A&B’s Nick McCauley, the project from initial brief to final installation was a 14 month process, which involved 3-D modelling, weekly meetings through every phase of design and manufacture, leading up to final integration into the facility. “We carried out 3D modelling, manufactured and provided the reactors and skidded system, installation of wiring and electrical and acceptance tested after completion,” he explains. “A lot of competitors don’t have all of those capabilities in-house and we’ve received a lot of positive feedback from the customer.”
Around 40% of A&B’s total business involves projects with the pharmaceutical industry, including many leading multinationals, and McCauley says that A&B is continuing to provide support to customers during the current pandemic. “We are supporting customers as much as possible and we are poised and ready to help wherever we can,” he adds.