Demand Sparks a Global Expansion
Two new biologics production facilities are to join the Songdo headquarters site of biopharmaceutical manufacturer Celltrion in South Korea. The $900 million expansion investment comes in response to rising global demand for the company’s biologics portfolio, while making room for production of new biosimilars and drug candidates under development. Both Plant 4 and Plant 5 will be constructed in phases until expected completion in 2030, delivering a combined 180,000 liters of capacity. In addition to a planned expansion of Celltrion’s facility in Branchburg, New Jersey, the company’s drug substances production capacity will increase to 571,000 liters globally.
TikTok has said the Lahti data center will become a key part of its growing European data enclave.
Photo: Getty Images
Doubling Down on Finland
Global social media platform TikTok has plans to construct a second data center in Finland, building upon Project Clover which was first announced in 2023. The company’s $13 billion initiative is designed to scale protection of over 200 million European users’ data and helped introduce its first campus in Kouvola in 2025. TikTok selected the southern Finland city of Lahti for its new $1.1 billion data center, positioned in the Kiveriö district. “Finland offers a unique combination of strong digital infrastructure, access to clean and reliable energy, and a highly skilled workforce,” says TikTok Head of Public Policy Finland Christian Hannibal. “That makes it a natural choice as we continue to expand our European infrastructure and strengthen how we protect and store data locally.”
New technologies at the NOV facility include NOV’s CO2- resistant subsea flexible pipe for high-CO2 applications.
Photo courtesy of National Oilwell Varco
A Flexible Investment Toward Increased Capacity
In Brazil, a $200 million investment from oilfield services company National Oilwell Varco (NOV) is heading to the Açu region in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. NOV is planning to expand its current subsea flexible pipe manufacturing site in the region in order to meet future demand and integrate new technologies at the plant. “Our current manufacturing capacity has been operating at or near full utilization and has a backlog that stretches well into 2028,” said NOV Chairman, President and CEO Jose Bayardo. “With the anticipated increase in the development of offshore resources, we believe that the industry’s current capacity will be insufficient to meet demand at the end of this decade and into the 2030s without the additional capacity we plan to bring online in late 2029.” The company stated its expansion will take place over the next three years.
Once operational, the Cheb facility will create 1,000 direct new jobs in the region.
Photo courtesy of Mercedes-Benz Trucks
New Facility to Strengthen European Network
Mercedes-Benz Trucks is looking to deliver a new vehicle assembly and manufacturing facility in the Czech Republic. The fresh addition comes in response to limited development opportunity at its largest volume production site located in Wörth am Rhein, Germany. In the western town of Cheb, the future site will handle assembly of conventional and alternative drivetrains, carrying an annual production capacity of up to 25,000 units. “The planned addition of a new site in Cheb gives us urgently needed breathing space in Wörth to continue flexibly producing trucks with diesel and zero-emission drivetrains there in the future,” said Mercedes-Benz Trucks CEO Achim Puchert. “We are increasing efficiency across the network — and thereby safeguarding value creation and employment in Germany as a whole.”
Roche’s new IHB building features modular laboratories that are designed to support interdisciplinary exchange.
Photo courtesy of Roche
Roche Opens New Research Home
Leading pharmaceutical company Roche has officially opened the doors to the latest addition to its Institute of Human Biology (IHB) in Basel, Switzerland. The new building at the site will act as a new research home for Roche, which actively invests over $4.4 billion into R&D annually. “By combining human organoid models with artificial intelligence, IHB has the potential to change how we discover and develop new medicines — making research and development more predictive and more efficient,” said IHB Global Head and Director Azad Bonni. Funding for the initiative is supported by a greater $1.7 billion commitment to site development within Basel and Kaiseraugst. The new research center will house up to 250 researchers with a goal of driving new collaboration to bridge the gap between fundamental and industry sciences.
