CordenPharma Invests in Small Molecule API Development Capacity

CordenPharma, a contract development and manufacturing organization, announced an investment of EUR 3.7 million (US$4.36 million) in the manufacturing site infrastructure of its facility located in Liestal, Switzerland, in an Oct. 16, 2017 press release. The investment will include an expansion of the square footage dedicated to small-molecule, peptide and carbohydrate development services.

In addition, approximately EUR 2 million (US$2.36 million) will be invested in automated development and optimization equipment, and an extensive upgrade and expansion of analytical equipment is already underway. The expanded laboratory space will also enable an increase in the overall headcount of development personnel available to work on customer projects, which will ultimately increase the capacity of the CordenPharma Switzerland facility in the small-molecule, peptide, and carbohydrate space.

The company will expand and refurbish the current purification capabilities and construct a new mini-plant, intended to meet the growing market demands in the gram to kilogram range at the scale of 1–70 liters. The new design, with movable and interchangeable equipment, will create a flexible manufacturing space.

The total investment will allow CordenPharma Switzerland to run an increasing number of early-phase projects in parallel, to support its own pipeline development as well as that of other facilities within the integrated CordenPharma network of manufacturing facilities across Europe and the US.

“The expansion at our CordenPharma Switzerland site is part of an ongoing strategic initiative to invest in small molecule API manufacturing across our global network of facilities. The additional development full-time equivalents will enable us to service our existing and future customers more efficiently,” said Stephen Houldsworth, director, Global Small Molecules & Antibiotics Platforms, CordenPharma International, in the press release.

“The introduction of this new mini-plant will enable us to run small-scale batches for our customers, while at the same time demonstrating the routes readiness for further scale-up and addressing their material requirements for early-phase clinical stages,” said Juerg Burger, managing director, CordenPharma Switzerland, in the press release.

Source: CordenPharma