Expansions and upgrades for Sanofi Belgium

The project

PM Group have delivered multiple projects at Sanofi (formerly Genzyme) in Geel, Belgium over many years. These range from single service to multi-service solutions, from providing outsourced technical personnel (OTS), to large scale EPCM project delivery.

We provided EPCM services to Sanofi / Genzyme on several projects in Geel, including a €250m development to support the long-term growth of Myozyme® and Lumizyme®, medications for the treatment of Pompe disease. This 23,000sqm building doubled the manufacturing capacity of the Geel site.

Separately, we were appointed to provide Construction Management services for a 9,000sqm fit-out project within an existing facility. This €170m expansion (mAbs 2) aimed to support the long-term growth of the Sanofi monoclonal antibody products portfolio. Prior to this, we were responsible for the BOD, Detailed Design, Procurement Support and OTS to refurbish an existing redundant process train to facilitate the production of a new mAbs product at the site.

International construction workforce

A significant challenge was the delivery of a large scale 23,000sq.m. facility in a busy urban area, impacting local authority infrastructure and several local landowners. Our highest priority was to ensure that the large international construction workforce worked safely to best international practice. Almost 3,000 construction workers passed the safety induction during this project.

Design highlights

Maximising natural light in the clean production areas to enhance the working environment resulted in an interesting design.  Buffer storage tanks were located in a technical area, with clean sampling carried out in much smaller perimeter clean room. These and other design features resulted in a significant reduction in energy consumption compared to similar facilities.