Kyowa Hakko Bio has announced it will establish a facility to manufacture human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) in Thailand. The move will expand its global footprint to consolidate its position as a global specialty fermentation manufacturer.
The facility will be built at Kyowa’s subsidiary Thai Kyowa Biotechnologies in Rayong Province, Thailand. Its scheduled to open operations in the summer of 2022.
Kyowa has established an industrial-scale HMO production system. The application of this system will be the core of the company's medium- to long-term growth strategy. After the establishment of this production system, the company plans to supply HMOs to other companies as well as use it for its own and the Kirin Group's product development.
Under Kirin Holdings’ medium-term business plan, Kyowa aims to make continual improvements to its quality assurance system and other operations.
The facility will have a production capacity of approximately 300 metric tons per year and will manufacture three HMO products, 2FL, 3SL and 6SL.
Kyowa has already established manufacturing processes for three of its HMOs (2FL, 3SL and 6SL). 3SL and 6SL, however, have never yet been supplied on an industrial scale.
The company says will be able to secure a competitive advantage through its strain development and manufacturing process development capabilities.
Future growth in demand is expected in China and Southeast Asian markets; so locating a manufacturing base in Thailand is believed to provide Kyowa with a secure supply capacity and cost competitiveness close to large consumption areas.
