PCI company expands temp-controlled trial supply services
Biotec told Outsourcing-Pharma.com customers asked for greater temperature-controlled packaging services, especially for biopharmaceuticals.
“A large proportion of our client base is from the US, Canada, Israel and Korea,” Rachel Griffiths, Technical Services Manager, told Outsourcing-Pharma.com.
Customers developing gene and stem cell therapies need refrigerated storage and packaging of their products before they are shipped around the world, she said. “Therefore the packaging and shipping methods must deal with both hot and cold climates equally, as freezing a two to eight (degree Celsius) product often has a far greater detrimental effect on the product than warming it slightly.”
The improved facility has expanded Biotec’s cold-chain capacity by 400%, and its general clinical supply capability by half.
The company built three temperature-controlled warehouses, two run at 2-8°C and another between 15 and 25°C. It also invested in a second cryostorage facility for biologics and bought a vertical lift system from Couzens to help store blinded clinical kits.
Phase III clients
Griffiths told us to deal with the challenges of cold-chain packaging Biotec has 100% equipment redundancy (meaning if one machine fails, others are capable of taking on the full workload), and has back-up from a generator.
As well as the new buildings, the company announced it has added to its existing facilities. A sliding wall system means it can change room sizes at will to fit larger equipment such as automated labelling lines. This means Biotec can take on more Phase III projects, it said.
The firm revealed it bought extra land next to its plant for future expansions.
Furthermore, the company has acquired additional land adjacent to their current site for future capacity and capability expansions.
PCI bought Welsh CDMO Penn Pharma for £127m ($215m) last year.
