SCM’s new commercial supply service wins long-term contracts
Although specifics of the deals have not been released, SCM was able to disclose that one will involve contract autoclaving services, while the second agreement will focus on aseptic processing and distribution.
The manufacturing service, which operates from SCM’s plant in Northumberland, expands on its existing trial supply business and will be a boon for clients seeking low volume product runs, according to managing director Shirley Dann.
Dann explained that: “As we are able to handle short-run volumes, our commercial supply offering will appeal to companies in low volume markets or in niche markets such as orphan drugs and paediatrics.
“As with our clinical trial services, we can offer clients the technical knowledge and manufacturing expertise to deal with bespoke, complex and unusual products and processes, but on a commercial scale.”
SCM’s focus on scalable low-volume production runs it likely to appeal to the growing number of mid-sized pharmaceutical and biotech firms developing niche products.
The two deals also mean that SCM’s new commercial offering is off to a faster start than the aseptic fill and finish service for radiolabelled drugs that it launched in October last year.
French drugmaker Sanofi Aventis became the first sign up to the radiolabelling service in May, asking SCM to make clinical trial stocks of a developmental cancer treatment. To date, no other contracts have been announced.
