CordenPharma has begun commercial peptide production with additional capacity at upgraded facilities at its site in Colorado, which is the world’s largest solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) facility. About 60 new jobs have been created with more potentially to follow. 

The company had begun capital investments in early 2023 as part of a general worldwide expansion that also includes sterile injectables and LNP formulation and fill-finish capacity at other sites. New additions at the Colorado site include: 

CDMO Almac Group has held a groundbreaking ceremony for a $65 million expansion project on its North American headquarters campus in Souderton, Pennsylvania. This comes just after the company announced record breaking financial results and confirmed that its global workforce has reached 7,000.

Mitsubishi Chemical subsidiary Gelest has marked the groundbreaking for its latest production facility, the eighth in all, on a brownfield site at its headquarters in Morrisville, Pennsylvania. This will enhance its capabilities in applications such as microelectronics, medical devices, advanced thermal coatings and mobility, the firm stated.

SK Pharmteco has announced a two-phase, $35 million investment to boost both capacity and capabilities at its SK Biotek subsidiary’s manufacturing plant at Swords, Dublin. This is due online in 2024, the campus’s 60th anniversary as a small molecule API manufacture, and will lead to a 50% total increase in capacity.

AlzChem, the only supplier of speciality nitriles outside China, has completed a €12 million expansion that took 15 months and will increase capacity by 50%. This is particularly targeted at the pharmaceutical and agrochemical markets and is expected to lead to additional sales of €10-20 million/year, depending on the product mix.

As part of its expansion plans for this year, Charnwood Molecular, a UK-based pre-clinical discovery CRO to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology market, has become the sole occupier of a three-storey laboratory facility at Charnwood Campus in Loughborough. This is being funded with support from European private equity fund Synova, which recently took a stake in the company.

Small molecule CDMO Cambrex is spending $50 million to expand its mid- and large-scale API manufacturing capacity in Charles City, Iowa. This is the sixth major investment at the site in the past eight years and follows on from a recent, smaller expansion at the site in Karlskroga, Sweden.