Green Cross said Monday that it will build a new biologics manufacturing facility in Canada as part of expanding its business to North America.
According to the biopharmaceutical company, the plant will be located in Montreal, Quebec, and will be Canada’s only plasma-fractionation facility capable of producing up to 1 million liters of plasma a year.
The company said it will break ground later this year and begin commercial production from 2019.
Green Cross Biotherapeutics, a company subsidiary, signed an agreement with Investissement Quebec over the latter’s financial commitment to the project worth 25 million Canadian dollars.
Green Cross expects the total capital expenditure on the new facility to exceed 180 million Canadian dollars over the next five years.
"This investment will demonstrate our long-term dedication to patients in the North American region who rely on plasma-derived medicines; and it will create hundreds of full-time positions in Montreal" said Green Cross Chairman and CEO Huh Il-sup.
The National Medical Center (NMC) opened an emergency 24/7 trauma center Tuesday.
The center in the NMC’s main building in Euljiro, central Seoul, is staffed with 21 specialists and equipped with 18 beds.
It will provide emergency medical treatment for patients suffering severe injuries such as in traffic accidents.
It is rare in Korea that such a center has doctors specialized in traumatic injuries staying 24 hours.
The NMC said the center will serve as the headquarters of trauma centers nationwide, as well as educating trauma specialists.
The state-run hospital said the center is aimed at raising Korea’s preparedness in dealing with traumatic injuries and lowering the rate of preventable death to that of other countries having leading medical systems.
Though the NMC is scheduled to move to Seocho, southern Seoul, in 2018, the NMC advanced the center’s opening because of the increased need for medical infrastructure providing services for emergency patients in Seoul, the hospital said.
“By operating the trauma center, the NMC will likely attain experience and know-how, and help build a national-level counter-trauma injuries system,” said NMC Director Youn Yeo-kyu.