Piramal Healthcare will invest $11 million at its Morpeth, UK facility to triple the production capacity for hormonal products, including contraceptive pills and hormone replacement therapies. The expansion, which has been commissioned in response to customer demand and new business gains, will see the Morpeth site’s production capacity increase by around 2 billion tablets per annum.
Work on the new suite, which will house formulation, packaging coating and tableting equipment, will commence at the end of 2013, with mechanical completion anticipated within 12 months and full operations expected to begin following a six month validation period.
This latest investment follows Piramal Healthcare’s recent announcement that it is to invest $2.5 million at its FDA approved Grangemouth, UK, site to upgrade one of its antibody drug conjugate (ADC) manufacturing suites, from clinical phase to commercial grade, in response to customer demand. The upgrade will give Piramal two commercial grade ADC suites at the Grangemouth facility, while retaining clinical phase manufacturing capacity in other suites on site.
Vijay Shah, Executive Director and COO, Piramal Enterprises said, “The production of hormonal products is a highly specialised, niche area. The Morpeth facility is our Centre of Excellence for these products and this expansion will greatly enhance our offer and potential for growth in this space. The hormonal sector currently represents a $11 billion market globally and is growing at a pace of four to five per cent annually. With major competition limited to a small number of CMOs in Europe, Piramal sees major opportunities for growth in this area given our vast experience in this field, which spans more than 40 years.”
With this expansion, Piramal aims to be one of the largest contract manufacturers in this niche segment which, as per the US FDA and MHRA regulations, requires a dedicated manufacturing facility for the handling of high potent molecules.
The 13,000 sq ft Morpeth facility also houses Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) production, general solid formulation production, and a range of clinical trial supply and research facilities, and was acquired by Piramal from Pfizer in 2006. Piramal Healthcare provides Late Phase API services on an integrated manufacturing model across North America, Europe and Asia. All its facilities manufacturing commercial phase APIs have been GMP certified and possess API finishing facilities.
Piramal has a successful performance record of over 40 years for the supply of APIs to the US and European markets from its facilities located in Canada, India and the UK. With a reactor volume exceeding 500 KL, including pilot plants and multi-purpose plants, Piramal Healthcare is capable of executing the extensive API requirements of its client base.
EP News Bureau – Mumbai