AGC will invest 90 million euros in Catalonia and create 100 new jobs by 2024

The Japanese company AGC Pharma Chemicals will invest 90 million euros and create 100 new jobs with the expansion of the company’s site in Malgrat de Mar (Barcelona).

AGC Pharma Chemicals manufactures small molecule Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and intermediates. The company will increase by 30% the production capacity of active pharmaceutical ingredients with the construction of a new production plant of 7,500 square metres that will be in operation in 2024.

The announcement was made by the CEO of AGC Pharma Chemicals Europe, Akihiro Kadokura, and the Minister of Business and Labour of the Government of Catalonia, Roger Torrent.

For this investment project, the company had the support of Catalonia Trade & Investment. According to the agency, there are currently 270 subsidiaries of Japanese companies located in Catalonia.

After holding a working meeting with the company’s management team, Minister Torrent emphasized the importance of “AGC’s commitment to Malgrat de Mar and Catalonia, which strengthens our country’s position on a global scale in the pharmaceutical sector”.

Torrent said: "Key investments are being decided in the pharma sector and projects such as those of AGC help us explain to the world that Catalonia has concentrated assets that make the region very competitive, such as a very powerful research and health system and a strong business environment".

The CEO of AGC Pharma Chemicals Europe, Akihiro Kadokura, said that "we are very pleased to announce a major expansion of the production plant with an investment of 90 million euros that will create 100 jobs”.

Kadokura emphasized that it will be "a more modern and technological plant" and said that "Catalonia is a center for the chemical and pharmaceutical industry with talent in this field".

The new facilities will have reactors with a volume from 1.5 to 7.5 m³ to produce more active pharmaceutical ingredients and additional space for future group investments in the Malgrat de Mar plant. The small molecule CDMO market is growing at over 7% annually, according to AGC.

AGC Pharma Chemicals, part of the Japanese group AGC Group, was established in Catalonia in 2019 with the acquisition of the Boehringer Ingelheim plant. It currently has 330 employees, including factory, labs and R&D, and administrative staff.

AGC Group, headquartered in Tokyo, has more than 55,000 employees internationally and a turnover of more than 12.7 billion euros.