Executives Outline Expansion Plans at the DCAT Member Company Announcement Forum

CEOs and senior executives from DCAT Member Companies provided the latest major news from their companies across the bio/pharmaceutical manufacturing value chain at the DCAT Member Company Forum at DCAT Week 2022.

CEOs and senior executives from DCAT Member Companies provided the latest major news from their companies across the bio/pharmaceutical manufacturing value chain at the DCAT Member Company Forum at DCAT Week 2022.

Global expansions highlighted
This year’s DCAT Member Company Announcement Forum, which was held on March 21, 2022, kicked off DCAT Week 2022 with CEOs and senior executives highlighting major news announcements from their companies with developments across the global bio/pharmaceutical manufacturing value chain. DCAT Week, held March 21–24, 2022, is the flagship event of the Drug, Chemical & Associated Technologies Association (DCAT) and the premier industry event for companies engaged in bio/pharmaceutical development and manufacturing.

Expansions in biomanufacturing (drug substance), both traditional biologics and new modalities, such as cell and gene therapies, including select investments in mRNA manufacturing, were a major area of focus of several companies’ announcements, with certain companies highlighting billion-dollar plus expansion plans.

So which companies are making the news in biomanufacturing? On the CDMO side, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Samsung Biologics, Lonza, Catalent, AGC Biologics, and IDT Biologika are moving forward with key expansions in biologics, as is Cytiva, the former Biopharma business of GE Life Sciences, now part of Danaher Corporation, and a large supplier of products supporting bioprocessing.

Several of these CDMOs with integrated capabilities in biologic drug substance and drug-product manufacturing also provided updates on their expansions in fill–finish/sterile drug-product development and manufacturing (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Lonza, Catalent, and IDT Biologika) as did Selkirk Pharma, a CDMO of injectable products.

Also on the drug-product side, Catalent highlighted the integration of its $1-billion acquisition of Bettera, providing it with innovative dose technologies for consumer healthcare products.  CordenPharma outlined the acquisition of three drug-product manufacturing facilities to expand its capacity for oral dosage forms and other dosage forms (sachets, non-sterile liquids).

On the small-molecule drug substance side, several companies announced expansions. WuXi STA is proceeding with a major expansion plan in its global R&D and manufacturing network for small-molecule APIs, including high-potency APIs, as well as for oligonucleotides, peptides, and their conjugates in addition to investments in flow chemistry and biocatalysis. HAS Healthcare Advanced Healthcare Systems (formerly Helsinn Advanced Synthesis) is progressing a multi-year expansion plan, and Cambrex announced a $100-million expansion in small-molecule API development and manufacturing.

Details of all these announcements, including investment amounts, capacity additions, and timelines for completion/start-up are outlined in the new stories below.  Plus, other DCAT Member Companies are making the news: watch for the upcoming April 8th issue of DCAT Value Chain Insights for highlights.

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