The award is being backed by the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) in partnership with Department of Defense’s Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND) and the Army Contracting Command’s Joint Covid Response Division (ACC JCRD.

In line with its strategy to “empower biologics delivery,” Croda said it will also invest up to $58 million in its lipid systems operation, bringing total spending on the project to $133 million. The investment will fund a new US lipid facility as part of a new multi-purpose cGMP site in Lamar, Pennsylvania, which is expected to go on stream in 2025.

The third manufacturing site for lipid systems alongside its existing US capacity at Alabaster, Alabama, and its capabilities at Leek, UK, supports the expansion of its portfolio of drug delivery solutions, Croda added.

According to the UK firm, its Pharma business is a leading partner in the development of delivery systems for biologics, with platforms enabling the next generation of vaccines and therapeutics. With the acquisition of Avanti Polar Lipids in 2020, Croda said it became the first company to supply clinical and commercial quantities of critical lipid systems to support the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines globally.

Lipid systems are regarded as offering significant potential as the delivery system for a wide range of nucleic acid applications, including novel mRNA-based therapeutics, such as flu vaccines and cancer treatments. Given the scale of the current clinical development pipeline, Croda expects the market for lipid systems to grow “significantly” over the next ten years.

Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist