Novasep-PharmaZell commits nearly$7.5m to boosting API capacity
The Novaxsep-PharmaZell group has announced it plans to make a €7.3m (about $7.5m USD) to expand active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) production capacity at its site in Mourenx, France. Made with assistance from the French government’s France Relance plan, the investment reportedly will enable the company to continue ongoing efforts to update its facility equipment and to increase production capacity.
"This major project to modernize and expand the Mourenx site demonstrates our new Group's determination to pursue the strategy of industrial investments that we have been successfully deploying for several years,” said Jean Bléhaut, president of the company’s CDMO Business Unit. "This is a clear and practical answer for our pharmaceutical customers, who face growing challenges to secure supply chains in the field of healthcare products, and particularly APIs.”
Among the goals for the site expansion and enhancement scheme is creating a multipurpose pilot workshop within one of its production units. The new industrial tool is intended to support the growth of the Mourenx site and sustain the ongoing surge in demand for APIs, especially highly potent APIs (HPAPIs) used in oncological therapies.
The list of site enhancements includes an upgrade of two existing 2000-L reactors, with the intent of optimizing their versatility and functionality and adding a 1500-L reactor and Hastelloy filter-dryer. Additionally, the planned multi-purpose workshop will be equipped to produce batches ranging from 30 kg to 100 kg for clinical trials, process validation, and commercial production of APIs for targeted therapies, with a focus on HPAPIs.
"Creating this unit is an opportunity to diversify the Mourenx site's activity with a new state-of-the-art production tool that improves our capacity for handling highly potent therapeutic products,” commented Patrick Suescun, Mourenx site director. "This will clearly be beneficial to our clients and their patients, as well as to our local teams, who will be working with the best equipment to fulfill our commitments."
Since the completion of the Novasep-PharmaZell merger, first announced in April 2022, the new group's stated strategy is focused on offering clients a higher level of competitiveness, secure supply chains, and full support throughout the life cycle of their products.
