CordenPharma to expand peptides in Switzerland

CDMO CordenPharma has finalised plans to establish a €500 million+ peptide manufacturing facility at Getec Park in Muttenz on the outskirts of Basel, Switzerland. This should be built and qualified between 2025 and 2027, with commercial activities beginning in 1H 2028. Over 300 jobs will be created

The investment will feature small- and large-scale solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) reactors with a total capacity over 5,000 L, supporting GLP-1 and non-GLP-1 projects at all scales. Features will include advanced automation, digitalisation and production technologies to ensure compliance with the most stringent regulations, including BLA requirements, the company added.

• The company cited multiple reasons for locating the plant near Basel:
• Efficient infrastructure, with existing systems for handling materials and processes that are crucial for peptide manufacturing
• Optimal logistics, with streamlined access to transportation networks
• Established large-scale utilities already in place to support chemical manufacturing
• Talent pool access, close to a major pharma and biotech hub
• Sustainable operational efficiency in the industrial park, thanks to an established manufacturing ecosystem with closed-loop energy and material cycles, and advanced waste-to-value streams

This is all part of a plan CordenPharma announced in July 2024 to invest €1 billion+ in peptide development and manufacturing, with the aim of taking the peptide platform business’s sales above €1 billion/year by 2028. The company is also expanding existing lines and building a greenfield production area at its site in Boulder, Colorado, taking SPPS capacity there to over >42,000 L/year by 2028.