Drugmakers and contract manufacturers are responding to the booming demand for antibody-drug conjugates, with multiple expansion projects announced in recent years to support the targeted cancer treatments.

Riding the wave is Swiss CDMO Carbogen AMCIS, an active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturer, which revealed that it and an unnamed Japanese partner will invest 25.5 million Swiss francs ($31 million) to outfit two of Carbogen’s three domestic facilities for commercial production of linkers, the chemicals that connect antibodies to drug payloads.

The move comes on top of news four years ago that the companies were upgrading Carbogen’s API site at its headquarters in Bubendorf, Switzerland, to manufacture ADC linkers, Carbogen said in a June 4 press release. 

With the new outlay, Carbogen plans to have its facility in Aarau ready for ADC production in the first quarter of 2027, while its plant in Neuland is set to complete its ADC upgrade by the third quarter of 2027. The work at both sites will include the installation of 850-liter reactors and agitated filter dryers, the 35-year-old company said.

“By investing in both Aarau and Neuland, we’re ensuring that our infrastructure keeps pace with our customers’ ambitions,” Carl Baker, Carbogen’s drug substance business unit vice president, said in a release.

Aside from Switzerland, Carbogen, which also helps customers with process development, operates facilities across France, the U.K., the Netherlands and China. 

In the fourth quarter of last year, another Swiss CDMO, Lonza, unveiled a similar investment to bolster its capability to produce ADCs for an unnamed “global biopharmaceutical partner” at its massive site in Visp, Switzerland. A month later, Lonza said that it was adding two manufacturing suites and creating 200 new jobs to double the company’s ADC production. 

Last year, AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo—who partner on ADC powerhouse drug Enhertu—each announced respective investments of $1.5 billion and $1 billion to build ADC manufacturing facilities. AZ’s facility will be built in Singapore, while Daiichi’s new site will be in Germany.