CSL has commenced expansion of its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Kankakee, Illinois.
The expansion, a cornerstone of the company’s global manufacturing growth strategy and effort to expand its US production presence, was officially announced with state and local officials, including Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, Illinois State Senator Patrick Joyce, and other key dignitaries.
The newly expanded facility will substantially increase the company’s ability to produce life-sustaining, plasma-derived therapies for people living with rare and serious diseases and other acute medical issues while bringing hundreds of new, highly skilled positions to Kankakee, IL.
New $1.5 billion investment at CSL’s Kankakee manufacturing site builds on over $3 billion already spent on CSL’s U.S. operations since 2018. The expansion will create at least 300 new jobs and enhance production of plasma-derived therapies and albumin through advanced manufacturing capabilities.
This investment demonstrates CSL’s commitment to its next-generation manufacturing capabilities to more efficiently meet the needs of the patient community that it treats.
The Kankakee expansion, expected to be operational by 2031, will incorporate CSL’s Horizon 2 manufacturing process, a patented, yield enhancing technology that enables significantly greater production of immunoglobulin from the same base amount of plasma.
This industry-leading technology is designed to improve plasma efficiency and positions CSL’s U.S. network to support sustained growth of the company’s lifesaving therapies.
Many of the conditions that plasma-derived therapies treat are relatively rare but together, they affect thousands of people, including those living with haemophilia, primary immunodeficiency, and hereditary angioedema (HAE).
In addition to treating rare conditions, PDTs are also used as a lifesaving standard of care for many emergency and life-threatening conditions. These include trauma – such as car accidents, burns, shock – and certain maternal health conditions, such as postpartum haemorrhage.
CSL’s commitment to growing its medicines production capacity, based on business needs and in keeping with the US Administration’s policy of encouraging companies to grow their American manufacturing footprint, is expected to create at least 300 new pharmaceutical roles and approximately 800 construction and related jobs in the local community.
Currently, more than 1,200 full-time employees work at the Kankakee site. Since 2018, CSL has invested more than $3 billion in its US operations, creating over 6,500 new American jobs and bringing its total US headcount to nearly 19,000, representing about 60% of CSL’s global workforce.
