US-based pharmaceutical company AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) announced on Tuesday that construction work has commenced on a USD70m expansion at its AbbVie Bioresearch Center (ABC) in Worcester, Massachusetts, which serves as a centre of excellence for biologics research & development and manufacturing.

This expansion is part of the company's previously announced commitment to invest more than USD10bn of capital in the USA to broadly support innovation and expand critical biologics manufacturing capabilities and capacity.

The company said that this investment will further expand its domestic biologics manufacturing capacity to meet increased global demand and support US production of current and next-generation oncology and immunology medicines. It will include construction of additional biologics manufacturing areas and a three-storey building housing laboratory, warehouse and office space. Construction will enable the expedited transfer of certain oncology products from Europe to the United States.

"For more than three decades, ABC has been at the forefront of scientific innovation and biologics manufacturing," said Azita Saleki-Gerhardt, Ph.D., executive vice president and chief operations officer, AbbVie. "This investment will further expand AbbVie's biologics manufacturing capacity and position ABC to build upon its impressive track record of developing, manufacturing and launching next-generation complex biologic medicines that improve the lives of millions of patients worldwide."

With a presence in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, AbbVie says that it employs 28,000 people in the United States, including more than 2,000 in Massachusetts.