Cambrex Expands Swedish Drugs Facility
Cambrex is spending $3.6 million to expand flexible drug substance manufacturing at its site in Karlskoga, Sweden. Engineering has already begun, and work is expected to be completed by November 2020.
The project, which will lift capacity by 25%, will convert a previously customer-dedicated manufacturing train by modifying an existing four-reactor configuration, adding another production line and installing new holding tanks as well as a Hastelloy Rosemund filter.
“We are seeing continued growth in commercial-scale API manufacturing, and an ongoing trend for customers favoring high-quality European and US partners, so we must ensure capacity is both flexible and available to be in a position to react quickly and effectively to customers’ changing requirements,” said Bjarne Sandberg, Cambrex Karlskoga’s managing director.
The Karlskoga site, which employs over 400 people, houses a wide range of flexible manufacturing facilities, including four cGMP pilot plants and five full-scale commercial production units. Last year, Cambrex added a new process and analytical development facility along with a logistics center.
In April, the US small molecule and API specialist completed an expansion of its biopharmaceutical analysis capabilities in Durham, North Carolina. “The expansion began in response to a customer request to support a BioSafety Level 1 organism and grew from there based on broader customer response,” explained Durham site director Elliott Franco.
The site’s new capabilities are applicable to a board variety of pharmaceuticals, such as bacteriophage/bacterial virus and mammalian viral infectious titer assays for intermediates, drug substances and final drug products.
Cambrex is also planning ongoing assay additions at Durham, including impedance-based orthogonal methods for existing and new cell-based potency assays and protein-protein interaction/binding assays.
Last December, the New Jersey-based company announced that that it had been sold to an affiliate of funds owned by private equity group Permira. Cambrex said the investment will support its ongoing growth, including the broadening of capabilities to support the analysis, development and manufacturing of drug substances and products – from the preclinical stage through to full commercial scale.
