Ahead of his session at CPHI Barcelona, Lawrence De Belder, continuous manufacturing practice head at Pharmatech Associates, answers some questions on the transformative impact of CM on the pharmaceutical industry
Why does batch processes have quality traps? Why will CM be the next generation on quality?
BASF has expanded capacity for ethylene oxide (EO) and derivatives at its verbund site in Antwerp, adding 400,000 tonnes/year in total. The €500 million+ investment comprises a second world-scale EO plant, including capacity for purified EO and alkoxylates. About 100 new jobs have been created.
India’s Navin Fluorine International has officially launched its CDMO division under the name Navin Molecular. The company has been providing chemistry services since 2010 and is launching the band “to showcase the broad platform that Navin Molecular can offer” in terms of geographical diversity and expertise in a range of complex chemistries.
Lonza has extended two ongoing collaborations with unnamed major biopharmaceutical companies. One covers the commercial-scale filling of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), the other bioconjugation. Financial details were not disclosed in either case.
As part of the former partnership, Lonza will build a dedicated line at its site in Stein, Switzerland, for the aseptic filling of highly potent ADCs and lyophilisation under containment. The new line is expected to be operational in 2027 and to create about 115 new jobs at peak capacity.
Venator Materials has completed its Chapter 11 recapitalisation process and claims to have “emerged with an improved balance sheet and lower debt”. It had entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May and had the recapitalisation plan confirmed by the Bankruptcy Court in July, after reaching agreement with “the overwhelming majority of its lenders and noteholders”. As a result of the deal, the company’s debt has fallen from more than $1 billion to about $200 million by converting it to equity.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2023 to three US-based scientists for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots. According to the academy they “planted an important seed for nanotechnology” by “producing particles so small that their properties are determined by quantum phenomena”.
Cambrex has completed a $38 million expansion at its small molecule API facility in High Point, North Carolina. This doubles capacity, with new analytical and chemical development laboratories, two new clinical manufacturing suites and a small-scale commercial manufacturing operation with three work centres and 2,000 litre reactors. Work originally began in 2021. This has created about 70 jobs.
