WASHINGTON — British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline says it will invest $139 million in its biopharmaceutical manufacturing site in Rockville, Maryland, to support expanded production of a drug used to treat a form of lupus.
GSK is currently awaiting FDA approval of a new subcutaneous, self-injectable version of its lupus drug, and said the Rockville site will also house production of that new version.
The company said the investment will expand its capacity for bulk substance production by close to 50 percent at the Rockville site.
The drug, Benlysta, is used to treat adult patients with active, autoantibody-positive, systemic lupus erythematosus, or SLE.
GLK gained a presence in Rockville when it acquired Human Genome Sciences in 2012.
Glaxo did not say when it would begin expanding its Rockville production facility, or how many new jobs it would create.
