Up next

Supplier News: Thermo Fisher, WuXi Biologics, Microsize & More 

The latest from CDMOs, CMOs, and suppliers featuring Thermo Fisher Scentific, Excelsior, Microsize, AGC Biologics/Atum, Piramal Pharma Solutions, Rentschler Biopharma/Coriolis Pharma, Vetter, WuXi Biologics, Cellares, Cencor, and Sudpack.  

Chemicals/Chemical API Manufacturing 
* Excelsior Raises $95 M For Small-Molecule Mfg Research 
* Microsize To Acquire Micronization Facility from Lonza 
* Piramal Pharma Receives Regulatory Compliance for Nitrosamine Impurities
Biologics Manufacturing 
* Thermo Fisher Scientific Expands Bioprocessing Capabilities in Asia  
* AGC Biologics, Atum in Cell-Line Development Pact 
* WuXi Biologics, Qatar Gov’t Sign MoU for Expansion 
Formulation Development/Drug Product Manufacturing 
* Rentschler Biopharma, Coriolis Pharma Partner for End-to-End Production 
Packaging 
* Sudpack Breaks Ground on Packaging Facility 
Appointments 
* Vetter Managing Director To Retire 
* Cellares Appoints new Chief Commercial Officer
General 
* Cencora Expands Logistics, Cold-Chain Capacity

Chemicals/Chemical API Manufacturing 

Excelsior Raises $95 M For Small Molecule Mfg Research 
Excelsior Sciences, a company applying machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to enable small-molecule drug discovery and manufacturing, has raised $95 million.  

Excelsior Sciences describes itself as creating a form of chemistry that machines can do. Using so-called “smart bloccs”—automated synthesis-friendly chemical building blocks that enable iterative carbon–carbon bond formation. Smart bloccs serve as a modular chemical “language,” allowing AI to derive novel insights and guide discovery in closed-loop learning systems.

The financing includes $70-million Series A funding co-led by Deerfield Management, Khosla Ventures, and Sofinnova Partners, as well as a $25-million grant from New York’s Empire State Development, a government economic development agency. Other participants include Cornucopian Capital, Eli Lilly and Company, Illinois Ventures, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  

Source: Excelsior Sciences 

Microsize To Acquire Micronization Facility from Lonza 
Microsize, a CDMO specializing in particle-size reduction and control technologies, has signed an agreement to acquire from Lonza, a dedicated micronization facility in Monteggio, Switzerland. The agreement represents Microsize’s second acquisition from Lonza, following the successful 2022 acquisition of Lonza’s Quakertown, Pennsylvania, site. 

In acquiring Micro-Macinazione, Schedio Group, a Swiss provider of jet mills, isolators, spray dryers, and engineering services, is investing alongside Microsize to strengthen and localize its operational base in Europe. The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of 2026 subject to customary closing conditions. 

Source: Microsize 

Piramal Pharma Receives Regulatory Compliance for Nitrosamine Impurities 
Piramal Pharma Solutions, a CDMO of active pharmaceutical ingredients and drug products, has announced that it has successfully achieved compliance with global requirements for nitrosamine impurities in pharmaceuticals. 

Source: Piramal Pharma Solutions 

Biologics Manufacturing 

Thermo Fisher Scientific Expands Bioprocessing Capabilities in Asia 
Thermo Fisher Scientific has announced an expansion of its bioprocessing capabilities across Asia. The company is introducing a new bioprocess design center in Hyderabad, India, and has expanded its existing bioprocess design centers in Incheon, South Korea and Singapore. 

In Incheon, Sojuth Korea, the newly expanded bioprocess design center allows for deeper collaboration and innovation through advanced materials, technologies, and enhanced lab capabilities. The new bioprocess design center in Hyderabad, India, developed in partnership with the Government of Telangana, offers collaborative spaces for process design, simulation and optimization for co-creating and testing bioprocesses using single-use and hybrid systems. 

The expanded Singapore facility provides access to bench-to-pilot scale bioprocessing, training and collaborations with Thermo Fisher’s technical teams to scale early-stage processes to support flexible and sustainable biomanufacturing. 

Source: Thermo Fisher Scientific 

AGC Biologics, Atum in Cell-Line Development Pact 
AGC Biologics, a CDMO of biologics, is expanding its cell-line development center of excellence by partnering with Atum, a technology company, to integrate Atum’ Leap-In Transposase expression platform within its offerings.  

Atum’s Leap-In technology is a transposase-based platform that stably integrates DNA into a host cell’s genome to enable the development of genetically stable cell lines. The stable pools generated by the technology are highly predictive of final clonal line titers to allow process development and analytical work to begin earlier to reduce risk and further shorten project timelines, according to the company.  

Source: AGC Biologics 

WuXi Biologics, Qatar Gov’t Sign MoU for Expansion 
WuXi Biologics, a CDMO of biologics, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Qatar Free Zones Authority to extend WuXi Biologics’ global network and capabilities to the Middle East. The collaboration paves the way for the establishment of WuXi Biologics’ first integrated contract research, development, and manufacturing center in the Middle East. 

Source: WuXi Biologics 

Formulation Development/Drug Product Manufacturing 

Rentschler Biopharma, Coriolis Pharma Partner for End-to-End Production 
Rentschler Biopharma, a Laupheim, Germany-based CDMO of biologics, and Coriolis Pharma, a Munich, Germany-based CDMO of drug products, have announced a strategic collaboration to provide end-to-end solutions from early formulation through to commercial manufacturing. 

Coriolis Pharma brings a combination of in silico and wet-lab formulation and drug-product development expertise, scientific depth, and advanced analytical capabilities to this collaboration, and Rentschler Biopharma brings experience in bioprocess development and manufacturing for multiple biotherapeutics types.  

Source: Rentschler Biopharma 

Packaging 

Sudpack Breaks Ground on Packaging Facility 
Sudpack, a provider of packaging services, has broken ground on a new packaging facility. By the end of the third quarter of 2027, new production facilities for PharmaGuard, Sudpack’s recyclable packaging material, along with a unit for the regranulation of production-related plastic waste, will be built on the grounds of the Sudpack logistics center in Erolzheim, Germany. 

Source: Sudpack 

Appointments 

Vetter Managing Director to Retire 
Vetter, a Ravensburg, Germany-headquartered CDMO of aseptic filling and packaging, has announced the retirement of its Managing Director, Thomas Otto, after more than 35 years at the company. He will step down at the end of 2025. In an advisory role, he will contribute his knowledge and experience with pharmaceutical construction projects to the company’s planned development of a new production site in Germany. 

The strategic planning for the new structure of the Vetter management team began earlier this year (2025). Long-term experienced Vetter executives Henryk Badack, responsible for the Development Service and Quality, Titus Ottinger, responsible for Finance, Controlling, Human Resources and IT, and Carsten Press, responsible for the Global Sales Organization, Supply Chain Management, Strategy and Legal & Compliance, were appointed to the Management Board as Managing Directors at the beginning of 2025. 

Source: Vetter 

Cellares Appoints new Chief Commercial Officer 
Cellares, a South San Francisco, California-based CDMO of cell therapies, has appointed Ali Soleymannezhad, currently Chief Commercial Officer at MaxCyte, a cell-engineering company,, as Chief Commercial Officer. In addition to leadership roles with MaxCyte, he was Executive Vice President at Tosoh Bioscience, a provider of diagnostic systems for immunoassay and HPLC testing.

Source: Cellares 

General 

Cencora Expands Logistics, Cold Chain Capacity 
Cencora, a provider of third-party logistics (3PL), warehousing and other support services, has announced investments to enhance its 3PL capabilities in the US and Europe. 

Cencora is expanding its pan-European logistics capabilities through the addition of NextPharma Logistics, a healthcare logistics provider that delivers services across Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Cencora also will open a 3PL facility in Italy in 2026, building on recent investments to expand storage capacity in France, Spain, and the UK. 

Headquartered in Germany, NextPharma Logistics offers integrated supply chain services, such as storage, distribution, serialization and quality assurance and compliance management. The company offers temperature-controlled solutions, including refrigerated and deep-frozen storage, through its Good Distribution Practice (GDP)-compliant facilities in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. 

Cencora also plans to open a new, highly automated 500,000-square-foot 3PL facility in Texas in 2028, which will increase Cencora’s capacity to store products at controlled room temperature, refrigerated, and frozen ranges, including ultra-low and cryogenic. 

Source: Cencora