Jeff Schwegman, PhD CEO and Founder AB BioTechnologies

Jeff Schwegman, PhD, CEO, and founder of AB BioTechnologies (AB), a Bloomington, Indiana-based life-sciences contract service provider, outlined the company’s recent investment in a parenteral drug manufacturing facility at the DCAT Week ’18 Member Company Announcement Forum, which was held Monday, March 19, 2018 in New York.

AB is investing more than $12 million to add clinical and small-scale commercial manufacturing of biotech and pharmaceutical products to its current development offerings in a new 23,000-square-foot facility.

With construction almost complete, AB anticipates hiring up to 20 new employees to support the expansion. Expanding the company’s capabilities into contract injectable drug manufacturing was a key factor of the expansion, according to Schwegman, and will allow the company to manufacture clinical and small-scale commercial material. First production is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2018 and will allow AB to leverage its understanding of the science behind a client’s projects and to take a project from early-stage development to GMP manufacturing.

The new facility will feature the Vanrx SA25 Aseptic Filling Workcell with robotic technology to enable all material handling, filling, and sealing activities to occur without human intervention. AB will marry the Vanrx SA25 with an SP Scientific Hull freeze-dryer with patented Control-Lyo™ Nucleation on Demand Technology to leverage the company’s core competency in lyophilization.