INGELHEIM, Germany, March 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Boehringer Ingelheim formally acquired Amgen's biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing facility in Fremont, California (USA). This acquisition involves leasing buildings, acquiring physical equipment and assuming manufacturing processes done at the Fremont site. The state-of-the-art facility currently employs more than 300 employees and consists of more than 200,000 square feet for laboratories, manufacturing and process development suitable for clinical and market supplies. The purchase agreement was signed in January 2011. The companies agreed not to disclose details of the purchase price.

"Presence in Fremont, CA aligns with our growth strategy in several ways," said Simon Sturge, Corporate Senior Vice President Biopharmaceuticals, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH. "The strategic decision to have a state-of-the-art contract manufacturing facility in the U.S. Bay Area biotechnology cluster will give Boehringer Ingelheim a greater opportunity to serve current and future customers. In addition the technological expertise present at Fremont will complement our goal to further increase Boehringer Ingelheim's world leading position in the process development and manufacture of Biopharmaceuticals."

As a fully integrated manufacturing site, the Fremont site complements the existing capabilities and technology found across the existing Boehringer Ingelheim biopharma network located in Biberach/Germany and Vienna/Austria.

Boehringer Ingelheim has been a contract manufacturer for Amgen for ten years and will continue to support Amgen's delivery of safe and effective medicines to patients around the world. "We look forward to our continued contract manufacturing partnership with Amgen," said Simon Sturge.

The Boehringer Ingelheim contract manufacturing portfolio includes sixteen licensed biopharmaceuticals manufactured in globally licensed multi-product facilities, a growing pipeline of New Biological Entities (NBEs), and a growth strategy in the Contract Manufacturing Business (CMB). Boehringer Ingelheim's objective is to remain a leader in Contract Manufacturing as an industry benchmark for operational excellence including technical expertise and state-of-the-art technology.