SEP / OCT 2024
CordenPharma invests heavily in peptides
CordenPharma is to spend about € 900 million over the next three years to expand its peptide technology platform , with investments on both sides of the Atlantic . This will be the largest strategic investment to date for the company , which is owned by pan-European private equity firm Astorg and aims to achieve € 1 billion / year in sales from peptides
At CordenPharma Colorado , the former Roche site in Boulder , the company will add a new large-scale manufacturing facility and will also increase capacity in its existing
Large-scale peptide manufacturing at CordenPharma Colorado
manufacturing trains . This is a response to increasing demand for glucagonlike peptide 1 agonists for diabetes and obesity , where CordenPharma already has “ multiple , long-term , multi-year contracts totalling about € 3 billion , with potential upsides ”.
In Europe , a new greenfield facility will be built , with the aim of creating additional peptide capacity from early clinical to late-stage commercial manufacturing . On completion , both will be fully integrated within CordenPharma ’ s network of cGMP manufacturing facilities , along with dedicated technical and regulatory support .
Separately , CordenPharma ’ s owner , International Chemical Investors Group ( ICIG ) has agreed to buy Clariant ’ s decommissioned bioethanol plant in Podari , Romania , for its biotech CDMO subsidiary Corden BioChem . No financial details were disclosed , but ICIG will rehire “ a large proportion ” of the laid-off employees and spend a double-digit million Euro sum , mainly in downstream operations , to make the site a flexible CMO .
This will give Corden BioChem 1,500 m ³ of aerobic fermentation capacity in addition to the large fermentation plants it operates at Frankfurt-Höchst , Germany , plus 10,000 m ³ for anaerobic fermentation . With vessels in the 300-2,500 m ³ range , Podari will also enable the business “ to offer large-scale , cost-competitive fermentation services to its customers ”, ICIG said .
Clariant had originally opened the plant in 2021 , aiming to produce about 50,000 tonnes / year of its Sunliquid brand of “ almost carbon-neutral ” cellulosic ethanol from agricultural residues sourced in the vicinity . Whilst most was targeted at fuel blends , Clariant also saw opportunities in biobased chemicals and sustainable aviation fuel .
Production began in Q 2
2022 but the plant failed to achieve its targeted yields and other operational parameters on an industrial scale . As a result , Clariant took an impairment of about CHF 225 million in December 2022 . In October 2023 , it decided to close the site after a review concluded that the economics of the plant could not justify the additional capital expenditure needed to continue the planned ramp-up .
IN BRIEF
Agilent buys Biovectra Analytical and clinical lab giant Agilent Technologies will acquire Canadian biotech CDMO Biovectra from HIG Capital in a $ 925 million deal that is expected to close before 2025 . Biovectra recently invested $ 240 million to expand its two sites and has completed an expansion of multiple biological capabilities .
SAP expansion in Indonesia In response to growing demand in the diapers market , Nippon Shokubai will add 50,000 tonnes / year of superabsorbent polymers ( SAPs ) at its Indonesian site , bringing the total to 140,000 . The new facility will be vertically integrated into acrylic acid , following a previous 100,000 tonnes / year expansion . The firm will also consider closing some of its older , less productive facilities in Japan to optimise the network .
Solid offer Italian CDMO Flamma has formed a cooperative agreement with Seven Star Pharmaceutical Services , with whom it has already been working for several years , to expand its solid-state science services . This , Flamma said , will enable it to help solve typical problems in drug development through capabilities like salt and co-crystal selection , crystallisation development , polymorph investigation and pre-formulation evaluation .
SEP / OCT 2024 SPECCHEMONLINE . COM
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