Supplier News: Siegfried, Curia, AGC Biologics, MilliporeSigma & More 

The latest from CDMOs, CMOs, and suppliers featuring Siegfried, Curia, AGC Biologics, MilliporeSigma, Schott Pharma, Aurigene Pharmaceutical Services, Freudenberg Medical, Dalton Pharma, Sartorius and Bespak.  

Chemicals/Chemical API Manufacturing  
* Siegfried To Acquire Drug-Substance Mfg Site from Curia 
Biologics Manufacturing 
* AGC Biologics Completes New $200-M Biologics Mfg Facility 
* Dr. Reddy’s Aurigene Pharmaceutical Services Opens Biomanufacturing Facility 
* Sartorius Opens Center of Excellence for Bioanalytics
Formulation Development/Drug Product Manufacturing 
* Freudenberg Medical Advances New $50-M Coating Mfg Facility for Drug-Device Combination Products 
* Dalton Pharma Services Invests in Aseptic Powder-Filling Line 
* Bespak Advances Expands Mfg for Green Pressurized-Metered Dose Inhalers 
Packaging 
* Schott Opens $81-M Packaging Mfg Facility 
General 
* MilliporeSigma Completes $195-M Distribution Center; Investing $67 M in New Quality Control Building 


Chemicals/Chemical API Manufacturing 

Siegfried To Acquire Drug-Substance Mfg Site from Curia 
Siegfried, a CDMO of drug substances and drug products, has signed binding agreements with Curia, also a CDMO of drug substances and drug products, for the acquisition of an early-phase drug-substance manufacturing site in Grafton, Wisconsin. 

The site specializes in early-phase development and manufacturing services and has more than 80 employees. Siegfried intends to develop the site into a hub for early-phase CDMO services for its global customer base, including services for projects with highly potent active pharmaceutical ingredients. Subject to customary closing conditions, the transaction is expected to close by July 1, 2024. 

Source: Curia 


Biologics Manufacturing 

AGC Biologics Completes New $200-M Biologics Mfg Facility 
AGC Biologics, a contract biologics manufacturer, has announced the completion of a new $200-million biomanufacturing building at its Copenhagen, Denmark, campus. The building doubles the site’s single-use bioreactor capacity for mammalian services and allows it to produce 150 more batches of drug product each year. 

The expansion adds 19,000 square meters of space in a building that houses a manufacturing floor, expanded quality control and process development lab space, utilities to support all operations, and a dedicated warehouse to serve the entire AGC Biologics Copenhagen campus. 

The new manufacturing area offers 8 x 2,000 L single-use bioreactors with two seed trains, as well as two independent downstream suites, more than doubling the existing capacity offered at this site for mammalian-based projects. 

Source: AGC Biologics 


Dr. Reddy’s Aurigene Pharmaceutical Services Opens Biomanufacturing Facility 
Aurigene Pharmaceutical Services, a Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories’ company, has opened a biologics facility spread across 70,000 square feet in Hyderabad, India.  

The facility provides process and analytical development and small-scale manufacturing of antibodies and other recombinant proteins for preclinical and early-phase clinical requirements. The process and analytical development laboratories are now operational while the commissioning of manufacturing capacity will be completed later in 2024. 

The facility is equipped with equipment and control systems. The new facility is complementary to the company’s current discovery capabilities and infrastructure, which primarily focuses on recombinant proteins, including monoclonal antibodies, bi- and multi-specifics, immune-fusion molecules, antibody drug conjugates, and other complex proteins. 

Source: Aurigene Pharmaceutical Services 


Sartorius Opens Center of Excellence for Bioanalytics 
Sartorius, a provider of products and services to support bioprocessing, has opened a new Center of Excellence for bioanalytics in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Sartorius has invested around $100 million in the facility, consolidating existing sites and functions in Ann Arbor. The number of employees at the site is expected to double over time. 

The 130,000-square-foot facility houses a manufacturing and services area, biology labs, a warehouse, office and training spaces, as well as a Customer Interaction Center. Sartorius will develop and manufacture a range of bioanalytical instruments at this site, including the associated reagents, consumables. and software. In addition, the company will provide particle validation services and produce microcarriers used in cell-culture processes. 

The Center of Excellence was built with a focus on sustainability and is seeking a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold certification, to be administered by the US Green Building Council. Sustainable features include green electric energy supply from 200-kilowatt solar panels, 30 electric vehicle charging stations, and a storm runoff pond. 

Source: Sartorius 


Formulation Development/Drug Product Manufacturing 

Freudenberg Medical Advances New $50-M Coating Mfg Facility for Drug-Device Combination Products 
Freudenberg Medical,, an Aachen, Germany-based developer and manufacturer of medical components and devices, has announced plans to expand its drug–device combination products business with an investment of more than $50 million in a new production facility in Aachen, Germany. 

The company will triple its manufacturing footprint with the new 130,000-square-foot facility in Alsdorf, located near its existing site. With its ISO Class 7 cleanrooms, laboratories, and offices, it will serve as a hub for research, development, and production of medical coatings. 

The existing industrial building at the site is currently being converted to meet medical technology as well as environmental and energy efficiency standards. A company-owned PV solar power plant will generate the energy needed to operate the site. Charging stations will enable emission-free commuting, energy recovery from the exhaust air of the cleanrooms will be used for heating, and an existing heavy oil tank will be converted into a cistern for rainwater utilization. 

Source: Freudenberg Medical 


Dalton Pharma Services Invests in Aseptic Powder-Filling Line 
Dalton Pharma Services, a Toronto, Canada-based CDMO, has recently commissioned 3P innovation, a Warick, UK-based supplier of fill-finish equipment, to design and construct a fully automated high-speed aseptic powder filling line. 

The new system comprises fully integrated isolators with multiple linked process chambers that have been designed to provide a compact integrated solution for ready-to-use tubs. Benefiting from six chambers, filling, stoppering, capping and crimping will all be done automatically. 

Source: Dalton Pharma Services 


Bespak Advances Expands Mfg for Green Pressurized-Metered Dose Inhalers 
Bespak, a spin-off from Recipharm that focuses on drug-device combination products and drug-delivery devices, has announced an expansion of production of low global warming potential (GWP) pressurized-metered dose inhalers (pMDIs) with an additional high-speed commercial filling line planned.  

These expansions will enable Bespak access to manufacturing capacity for new low GWP pMDI propellants to meet increasing industry demand as propellant transition plans progress.  

Source: Bespak 


Packaging 

Schott Opens $81-M Packaging Mfg Facility 
Schott Pharma, a Mainz, Germany-based supplier of drug-packaging systems, has opened a new production facility for high-quality prefillable glass syringes in Hungary. Supported by a EUR 9-million ($10-million) investment from the local government, along with Schott’s investment of EUR 67 million ($71 million), the facility creates over 120 jobs. 

Schott plans to further invest a multi-million ruro amount in Hungary in prefillable syringes in the next years. 

Source: Schott Pharma 


General 

MilliporeSigma Completes $195-M Distribution Center; Investing $67 M for New Quality Control Building 
MilliporeSigma, the life science business of Merck KGaA, has opened a newly expanded distribution center in Schnelldorf, Germany. The investment of EUR 180 million ($195 million) added 25,000 square meters to the site, almost doubling its size.  

The center now includes a new manual down filling operation and additional space for the distribution of products globally. The site employs 470 engineers, manufacturing, and distribution experts. 

Separately, MilliporeSigma announced an investment of EUR 62 million ($67 million) at its company headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany, for a new quality control building for its life science business. The facility will bring together approximately 135 employees across several departments into one space.  

The nearly 10,000-square-meter building is scheduled for completion by mid-2025. The new building is part of an investment program at the Darmstadt site: the company says it plans to invest a total of around EUR 1.5 billion ($1.6 billion) there by 2025. 

Source: MilliporeSigma (Distribution Center) and MilliporeSigma (Quality Control)