Pfizer has allocated 150 million Australian dollars (around $98 million) to install upgrades and build a new manufacturing facility at its existing site in Melbourne in an effort to advance new antimicrobial treatments to fight antimicrobial resistance. The expansion will add 500 new jobs.
This week, Pfizer installed freeze drying machines called lyophilizers in a new, separate facility to be used in the antimicrobial manufacturing process. The company also touted the site’s other upgrades, like the use of robotics and AI-powered tech. The upgrades are expected to be completed and operational by the middle of 2025, with commercial manufacturing starting the following year.
The company said that its Melbourne site has also been chosen for a trial of AI technology that will “support key site processes,” and that the upgrades and new facility will make it “one of the most advanced” pharma production facilities in Australia.
Medicines for cancer treatment, as well as antimicrobials, anesthetics and anti-inflammatory drugs, among others, are already manufactured at the Melbourne site.
Pfizer described the increase of antimicrobial resistance as “the silent pandemic,” noting that it makes infections harder to treat and increases the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death. Annual deaths from antimicrobial resistance are predicted to hit 10 million by 2050.
“A key strategic pillar of Pfizer’s product innovation work is our effort to help slow the spread of antimicrobial resistance, one of the biggest global health threats of our time,” Pfizer’s Australia and New Zealand managing director Anne Harris wrote in a statement.
Pfizer isn’t the only company working in the space — GSK invested £45 million ($57 million) into the Fleming Initiative earlier this year, which will use technology and AI to discover how drug-resistant infections are passed.
The UK government also promised £85 million ($108 million) to partner with African and Caribbean countries to improve access to antimicrobial medicines and monitor threats from the spread of resistant disease, as well as a partnership with Saudi Arabia.
Eli Lilly also said in June that it would use the generative AI from OpenAI in a partnership to speed up the discovery of new antimicrobials and develop technology to fight against drug-resistant pathogens. The collaboration is part of its $100 million contribution to the AMR Action Fund, a project designed to encourage more investments in antibiotic development.