Sterling Pharma Solutions, a UK-based contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), has announced that its pilot plant expansion at Cramlington is now operational.

The £6 million investment included the addition of three reactor trains of 225 liters, 500 liters and 1,360 liters, which Sterling said would help it meet growing market demand for smaller API batch sizes and handle potent compounds across a range of equipment scales.

“We’ve experienced significant growth over the past few years and as demand rises, we have taken steps to bolster our offering,” said Sterling’s CEO Kevin Cook. “There are a number of increasingly complex products entering the drug pipeline, many of which are intended for smaller patient populations, so the ability to cater for smaller volumes will be essential as we move forward.”

Cook added that customers are also increasingly seeking to outsource the entire API process from development through to manufacturing. “The expansion of our pilot plant will increase our scale-up abilities and allow us to cater for additional projects from proof-of-concept through to commercial manufacture,” he said.

At the beginning of March, European healthcare investor GHO Capital bought a majority stake in Sterling Pharma. Just a month later, the CDMO announced the purchase of CiVentiChem’s US facility in Cary, North Carolina, USA.

Sterling said the plant, which is located close to the Research Triangle Park, will allow it to offer a local presence to US clients and enhance its chemistry development capabilities to support pre-clinical and early phase clinical supply.

The CEO said the company has been keen to expand in the US as North America makes up 70% of its customer portfolio, driven primarily by the market’s emerging pharma sector and customer demand for its specialist capabilities in complex and challenging chemistry.