Piramal Pharma, an Indian CDMO, will spend 55 million pounds sterling ($74.4 million) to expand its antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) and active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing facilities in the U.K.
The company, which has been on a growth trajectory in recent years, said the first phase of the project will center on the Grangemouth site in Scotland. There, the company will add two new ADC suites to its existing three suites. The new suites are expected to be operational by the third quarter of 2023.
Piramal said it plans to eventually add new sterile fill-finish suites specific to certain ADCs along with a pair of large-scale manufacturing suites able to handle increased batch sizes.
“The primary driver behind this investment is the demand for commercial ADCs, coupled with a strong pipeline for clinical materials,” Peter DeYoung, Piramal’s chief executive, said in a statement. “This new development will more than double our ADC production capacity.”
Just under 45 million pounds ($61 million), including a 2.4 million pound ($3.25 million) grant from Scotland’s national economic development agency, will support investments at the Grangemouth facility.
Meanwhile, a little more than 10 million pounds ($13.5 million) will go into the Morpeth facility in England to expand and upgrade the plant to meet increased demand for APIs. The U.K. government is pitching in 2 million pounds ($2.7 million) for that project.
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Piramal has been ramping up its manufacturing footprint since 2016. The company scored a $490 million financial boost for its ambitions when the Washington, D.C.-based Carlyle Group bought a 20% stake in the company in June 2020.
Almost a year ago, Piramal paid $105 million to buy Mumbai-based Hemmo Pharmaceuticals, which develops and manufactures synthetic peptide ingredients from its two main sites nearby. The company has a manufacturing site in suburban Turbhe that's certified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as well as several other international regulatory agencies.