Catalent Pharma Solutions has broken ground on a $34 million extension to its biologics manufacturing facility in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. When completed, the additional 22,000 square foot of space will house a 2 x 2,000 liter single-use bioreactor system, which will allow Catalent to support late-phase clinical and commercial production of batches up to 4,000 liters. The investment will also expand its analytical and process development laboratories, as well as providing extra office space.

“Our continued investment in biologics capabilities is in direct response to market demand where underlying growth for large molecules is expected to exceed that for small molecule drugs,” said Barry Littlejohns, Catalent’s president of Drug Delivery Solutions.

The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) has awarded tax credits of up to $1 million over the next three years to the Somerset, New-Jersey headquartered firm, contingent upon the actual level of investment in Madison during that period.

Opened in April 2013, the Madison facility is home to Catalent’s proprietary GPEx cell line technology and provides development, manufacturing and analytical services for new biological entities (NBEs) and biosimilars. Work to extend the site’s analytical capabilities was completed in January 2016. The company has also completed investments to expand process development capability at the site, integrating a microbioreactor system into its cell line and upstream development process.

Catalent announced late last month that it was planning to acquire Pharmatek Laboratories, a contract drug development and clinical manufacturing firm based in San Diego, California.