Access Bio opens second plant in New Jersey

The US-based in-vitro diagnostic device company Access Bio Inc. announced on Monday that it opened its second factory in Monroe Township, New Jersey, the US.

Access Bio's largest shareholder is South Korea's new drug development firm Pharmgen Science. Access Bio is listed on the Kosdaq. It was recently selected as a participant company for a research project to develop next-generation diagnostic kits for the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The new facility, spanning 14,190 square meters, includes a fully automated production facility for rapid diagnostic kits and production facilities for a high-sensitivity version of diagnostic kits that Access Bio is preparing to launch next year.

Access Bio is conducting end-to-end automation of the entire process from strip manufacturing to packaging in the new facility, expecting both increased production capacity and cost savings.

The company is building that the platform technology for the high-sensitivity version of the new product is different from the existing ones in device form. Through the provision of this production facility, it is preparing for future demand.

The first plant, located in Somerset, New Jersey, produces key raw materials such as plastic components for rapid diagnostic kits and swabs for specimens. It also plans to use it as a small-scale production base for various products, including G6PD RDT and dengue RDT, beyond COVID-19. Access Bio aims to strategically utilize both factories according to their roles to increase production efficiency.

"According to the US government's Buy America policy, more than 60% of finished products must be made with the US-sourced raw materials," an Access Bio source said. "By internalizing the production of raw materials, we will be able to solidify our competitiveness in government-sponsored projects such as free distribution of COVID-19 diagnostic kits."

Write to Ye-Na Kim at yena@hankyung.com