CPhI North America

Cambrex invests $2.4m at former PharmaCore site

16-May-2017 - Last updated on 17-May-2017 at 13:51 GMT

(Image: iStock/tadamichi)

Cambrex Corporation is installing a fourth reactor suite at its High Point, NC-based facility as it continues to grow with its customers in the market, says company VP at CPhI North America.

The North Carolina facility produces complex APIs and intermediates in batch sizes from milligrams to 100kg to support clinical trials from Phase I to Phase III.

According to the company, the $2.4m investment will increase the site's reactor capacity by around 30%. The new 400 sq. ft. suite, which is expected to be operational in early 2018, will feature two 2,000-liter reactors and a 0.6 sq. m. Hastelloy filter dryer.

“We fill capacity whenever the market is asking for that and the market is good at the moment, especially I think for western-based CMOs,” Stephan Haitz, Ph.D., VP sales and business development at Cambrex told us at CPhI North America in Philadelphia this week.

As part of a second investment at the 35,000 sq. ft. site, previously PharmaCore, Inc., Cambrex is also upgrading its analytical chromatography data systems for QC and analytical R&D to new, Empower 3 software.

The upgrade will be introduced in Q3 and Q4 of 2017.

“Our clear focus was always manufacturing, but you need to bring a product to manufacturing, and hence with PharmaCore, we have the ability to start earlier,” said Haitz.

“You need to know the market but you [also] need to have a very close relationship with customers,” he added. “Our strategy is to grow with our customers in the market, and we’re a big fan of doing it organically.”