Catalent Expands HME Capabilities

Catalent Pharma Solutions announced plans to expand its OptiMelt hot melt extrusion (HME) capabilities at the company’s Somerset, NJ, drug development center with a $5-million investment. The investment, announced in an April 4, 2019 press statement, will include the addition of manufacturing and analytical equipment for preclinical and early clinical phase development and downstream processing technologies to support HME formulations.

In 2018, Catalent announced an investment in the Somerset facility to create a drug development center of excellence, which, along with sites in San Diego, CA and Nottingham, UK, offers formulation and development services for preclinical to clinical Phase 2b formulation, analytical, and manufacturing solutions for orally delivered small molecules.

Catalent’s 265,000-sq.-ft headquarters and development center in Somerset houses analytical labs and pilot- and clinical-scale equipment including hot melt extrusion and fluid-bed processing. The facility has expertise in handling potent and US Drug Enforcement Administration compounds for capsules, tablets, minitablets, and multi-particulates.

Source: Catalent Pharma Solutions