SINGAPORE, May 20, 2024 (BSS/ AFP) - British pharmaceutical giant 
AstraZeneca said Monday that it planned to build a $1.5 billion plant in Singapore to 
manufacture next-generation drugs to treat cancer.

The facility, to be ready by 2029, will produce antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), a promising 
type of treatment that attacks cancer cells without damaging the surrounding healthy ones, the 
company said in a statement.

The facility will be AstraZeneca's "first end-to-end ADC production site, fully incorporating 
all steps of the manufacturing process at a commercial scale", the firm said.

The investment has the support of the city-state's Economic Development Board (EDB), the 
statement added, without disclosing details of the government's incentives.

"We welcome AstraZeneca's decision to establish a manufacturing presence in Singapore for 
the first time. It will also be a first for AstraZeneca -- an end-to-end manufacturing facility for 
novel antibody drug conjugates that enables precision therapy for cancer," EDB chairman Png 
Cheong Boon said.

AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot said ADCs "have shown enormous potential to 
replace traditional chemotherapy for patients across many settings".

He added that "Singapore is one of the world's most attractive countries for investment given 
its reputation for excellence in complex manufacturing".

AstraZeneca also said it would work with the government and other partners to make the 
facility environmentally friendly by designing it "to emit zero carbon from its first day of 
operations"