Markus Blocher, CEO, Dottikon Exclusive Synthesis, a CDMO of intermediates, small-molecule active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and high-performance chemicals, provided an update of a multi-year $1-billion investment plan at the DCAT Member Company Announcement Forum, held March 23, 2026, at DCAT Week.  

Blocher outlined that the company, in response to rising demand for small-molecule cGMP multipurpose manufacturing capacity, has invested extensively in the build-up of such capacity over the past five  years totaling $1 billion. This investment has included new small-scale production and pilot plants as well as large-scale production API multipurpose and drying plants and related infrastructure, such as special chemicals and API/cGMP intermediates warehousing, waste gas treatment plants, and back-up power generation. 

The two main plant additions either currently in commissioning or just commissioned are a 100- m³ cGMP multipurpose high-potency API (HPAPI) production plant and a 20 m³ cGMP HPAPI drying production plant, each for OEB4 compounds. The first plant consists of two 6-m³ reactor trains, each with three 6,300-L glass-lined and hastelloy C22 reactors, in addition to two 10-m³ reactor trains, each with three 10,000-L glass-lined reactors, each of all four trains with a hastelloy C22 inverted-bag centrifuge (800 mm) and together for all a hastelloy pressure filter (6 m²). Furthermore, the plant has a 1,000-m³ tank farm, the capability for hazardous material handling, and direct incineration off-gas treatment. The second API drying plant consists of six cGMP dryer trains, each with a 3,000-L agitated hastelloy C22 spherical dryer, with direct-to-incineration off-gas treatment connections, and several cGMP micronization units for jet and impact milling.