Singapore: British drug giant GlaxoSmithKline announced plans to invest an additional $60 mn in its world-class antibiotic manufacturing plant at Quality Road in Singapore, building on its initial investment of $35 mn committed in 2012.

According to the company's press release, the new investment will be used to construct an additional downstream isolation facility for GSK's state-of-the- art enzymatic manufacturing facility at Quality Road.

GSK further said that this increase in capacity will help in enhancing its production capabilities by 50 percent and help the company meet the growing demand for antibiotics in emerging markets.

The facility is GSK's sole production site for amoxicillin; the active compound used in the manufacture of antibiotics that are widely prescribed for the treatment of bacterial infections. GSK said in its press release that the use of enzymatic technology over chemical processes in the production of amoxicillin will also reduce our carbon footprint by up to 25 percent and organic waste by 80 percent.

The investment marks an important milestone in GSK's enduring partnership with Singapore's Economic Development Board (EDB) and is a key element of the GSK-EDB 10-year Singapore Manufacturing Roadmap announced in 2012.