Onyx Scientific expands API facility on Phase I/II demand

By Dan Stanton

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags Active ingredient

The IPCA subsidiary is expanding its small scale API production facility
The IPCA subsidiary is expanding its small scale API production facility
A rise in demand for small scale APIs has driven Onyx Scientific to expand its GMP operations in North-East England.

Onyx Scientific, owned by Indian firm IPCA Laboratories​, is installing a new Class 100,000 cleanroom at its plant near Newcastle, UK, in order to cope with an upsurge in demand for the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to be used in its clients Phase I and II clinical trials.

“The investment relates to a general increase in demand, which may reflect the marketplace as a whole,”​ Denise Bowser, commercial director at the contract development and manufacturing organisation, told this publication.

“As well as attracting new clients through reputation and referrals, we are seeing more existing clients returning for GMP work. This is often as a result of us supporting such clients at an earlier stage in the drug development pipeline and then they come back to use when they are ready to scale-up for GMP supply having been impressed first time around.”

While Onyx Scientific has seen a general upsurge in demand in the sector over the past 12 months, Bowser said it’s difficult to know whether this is a market trend or unique to the company.

“Either way, I believe the UK market represents quality, high level of service and value, which is why clients from all over the world use small scale API manufacturers like Onyx.”

According to IPCA’s financial results​, for the year 2013-14 (ending March 2014), Onyx Scientific’s turnover stood at 292m Rupees ($4.7m), up almost 50% on the previous year. Financials for FY 2014-5 are not yet available.

This latest venture forms part of a larger investment initiative driven by the growing demand from new and existing clients.

Last year, the company installed equipment for continuous flow manufacturing, as an alternative to batch manufacturing, at the plant at a cost of £80,000 ($120,000), and added extra vessels to support its GMP API manufacturing services.

And while the cost of this latest expansion has not been divulged, Bowser did tell us Onyx Scientific intended to continue growing organically in the near future.

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