Minakem, a CDMO subsidiary of Minafin, is in final qualifications to open its new closed-controlled environment high-containment production facility located in Belgium by late summer.
The new facility will enhance Minakem’s ability to develop and manufacture HPAPI compounds, like antibody-drug conjugate toxins from small-scale development to full GMP batch releases, the company said. The Louvain-la-Neuve plant will house a preparative chromatography system that allows the isolation and purification of target molecules ranging in scales from milligrams to hundreds of grams. The cost of the new facility wasn’t disclosed.
“This new investment allows an increased capacity to integrate new projects as well as handle the most highly potent molecules on the market,” Amadeo Ferreira, Minakem’s R&D manager, said in a statement.
The facility is among only about a dozen of its kind in the world, the company said, with about half of those located in Europe.
Earlier this year, Minakem got an $18 million investment from its parent company, Minafin, to upgrade and increase capacity at its manufacturing plant in Dunkirk, France. That investment was part of the company’s plan to upgrade its facilities in response to several new innovations and molecules coming to market, which is driving demand for more production capacity in Europe.
According to studies cited by Minakem, the global HPAPI market is forecast to hit $26.84 billion by 2023, mostly driven by increased demand in oncology drugs, antibody-drug conjugates and an increased focus on precision medicine.