Ashland today announced plans to expand its pharmaceutical research and development Center of Excellence at the Ashland Research Center in Wilmington. Ashland will be expanding its existing capabilities to include formulation development and Good Manufacturing Processes (GMP) contract manufacturing services for solid dispersions and oral solid dosages.

To support early-stage clinical trials, the expansion will include spray drying and extrusion processes previously located in Columbia, Md. Approximately 20 positions will be relocated from Columbia to Wilmington in connection with the expansion.

The company expects the new facility to be operational by summer 2014. Ashland currently has pharmaceutical technology centers in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Shanghai, China; Düsseldorf, Germany; Hyderabad, India; Istanbul, Turkey; and Mexico City, Mexico, in addition to Wilmington.