Agilent to shell out $725M to boost production capacity for biologic APIs

Agilent Technologies, which provides equipment and services to drugmakers, will spend $725 million to double its production capacity of therapeutic nucleic acids integral to biological APIs.

The manufacturing expansion is part of the company’s efforts to meet demand for the therapeutic oligos market currently estimated to be worth about $1 billion and projected to reach $2.4 billion by 2027, Agilent said in a Jan. 9 press release.

Two new manufacturing lines—called Trains C and D—will be added to the company’s Frederick, Colorado, facility that will feed the drug industry’s appetite for siRNA, antisense and CRISPR guide RNA molecules. Agilent said it expects customer shipments from the expansion to begin in 2026.

The Colorado facility will see a Train C line announced in 2020 go live later this year.

“This investment reflects not only the strong demand for therapeutic oligos, but also for the unmatched quality and service of our therapeutic oligo contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO),” Mike McMullen, Agilent’s president and chief executive, said in the release.

The expansion at the facility will include advanced automation and engineering enhancements including water reduction and solvent capturing and recycling.

In late 2021, Agilent inked a deal with CDMO giant Lonza to work together to change the manufacturing process for personalized cell therapies that face manufacturing challenges because of their complexity and patient-specific needs.