A roundup of the latest news from suppliers, contract development and manufacturing organizations, and contract manufacturing organizations, featuring Cambrex, WuXi AppTec, Lonza, and Roquette.

Chemicals/Chemical API Manufacturing

Cambrex Expands Analytical Capabilities at NC Site
Cambrex, a contract manufacturing organization of small-molecule active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and drug products, is investing $1 million at its High Point, North Carolina site to fit out 1,300-square-feet of analytical laboratory space and plans to hire nine chemical research and development scientists as well as six analytical research and development scientists. This investment follows Cambrex’s new $3.2-million, 11,000-square-feet analytical laboratory, completed in April 2018.

The expansion and fit-out, which will include the installation of an additional 10 liquid chromatography instruments, is set to be completed by the end of the year (2018).

Source: Cambrex

WuXi AppTec Expands Site in California for R&D Services
WuXi AppTec, a Shanghai, China-headquartered contract service provider, has expanded its facilities in San Diego, California, to establish a center of excellence in screening, discovery biology, pharmacology, and small-molecule process research and development, including Phase I GMP manufacturing.

Source: WuXi AppTec

Biologics Manufacturing

Lonza, GE Partner to Build Biomanufacturing Facility in China
Lonza has formed an agreement with GE Healthcare under which GE Healthcare will deliver a biologics facility to Lonza in Guangzhou, China. Lonza signed a memorandum of understanding with the Guangzhou Development District to take the project forward on December 10, 2018. The new facility will give Lonza Pharma & Biotech a base in China to respond to demand for contract development and manufacturing services.

Lonza plans to offer its suite of antibody development services and manufacture GMP-certified batches by 2020. The two companies will work on the design of the 17,000-square-meter site, which will include 6,500-square-meters of lab space and one KUBio facility, GE Healthcare’s off-the-shelf biologics factory. The labs will house Lonza’s proprietary platforms for cell-line construction, including the GS Gene Expression System, as well as process development, cell banking and pilot labs. The KUBio unit will enable small-scale GMP manufacturing equipped with GE Healthcare’s single-use biomanufacturing technologies, including 1,000-liter and 2,000-liter bioreactors, combined with Lonza’s automation platforms for clinical and early-commercial supply.

Source: Lonza

Formulation Development/Drug Product Manufacturing

Roquette Acquires Majority Stake in Excipient Manufacturer Crest Cellulose
Roquette, a La Madeleine, France-based provider of excipients and food ingredients, has completed an acquisition of a majority stake in Crest Cellulose, a Hyderabad, India-based manufacturer of pharmaceutical excipients, from Pravesha Industries, a packaging company in India.

This investment allows Roquette to expand its offering of pharmaceutical excipients and nutraceuticals, following its 2017 acquisition of Blanver Pharmaceutical’s Itapevi, Brazil-based excipients division (Itacel).

Source: Roquette