Xcelience hopes small scale focus will help it win big
Tampa, Florida-headquartered Xcelience has installed a new low volume active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) feeder unit as well as a laboratory-scale high-shear granulator and an 8kg capacity tablet coating machine.
Ted Koontz, the firm’s director of operations, explained that the new technologies “added capability of small batch production to meet customer needs in cases where API is limited.”
As big pharma turns away from R&D, innovation in the drug sector is increasingly being carried out by smaller firms that are less able to move a promising candidates from the laboratory to the clinic for reasons of cost.
As a result, there is growing demand for pilot-scale capabilities, like those now offered by Xcelience, from small innovative pharma and biotechnology companies seeking to move candidates through to pre-clinical development in as cost effective a way as possible.
In addition, the increasing potency of drugs means that the quantities of APIs used in production are often very low. As a consequence, production processes have to be altered to ensure that quality standards are maintained during the production of smaller batches where wastage is critical.
Xcelience’s expansion continues the momentum generated by its manufacturing division last year through the addition of blister packaging, thermoformation and pre-formulation capabilities.
In addition, the firm recently bolstered its marketing team with the appointment of Omar Lamm, from Bilcare, Dontae Solomon and Robert Steitz, from Catalent and Robert Steitz from MDS Pharma Services.
