Argonaut's journey continues with $45M in new financing for facility expansion

Argonaut Manufacturing Services reeled in a $45 million financing round led by NewVale Capital, with participation from Telegraph Hill Partners and other investors.

The Carlsbad, California-based CDMO will use the funds to complete the expansion of its new fill/finish line and bolster its existing vial filling capabilities.

The company's expansion journey set sail in early 2023. With the infusion of cash, Argonaut expects the expansion project to complete by 2025, the company said in a March 5 press release.

NewVale Capital, an equity fund that focuses on pharmaceutical and life science services businesses, led the funding. Majority investor Telegraph Hill Partners and other current investors also participated.

“Argonaut is uniquely positioned to address the manufacturing challenges that biopharma innovators face related to sterile fill/finish of complex and high-value drug products,” Wayne Woodard, Argonaut's founder and chief executive, said in the release.

Argonaut currently boasts 100,000 square feet of manufacturing space spread out over five buildings within a five-mile area of Carlsbad, according to the company's website. The city has become a drug manufacturing hub north of San Diego.

In late January, clinical biotech Entos Pharmaceuticals unveiled its new manufacturing facility in Carlsbad. The 20,000-square-foot production facility features a lipid formulation production suite with additional manufacturing space for mRNA and plasmid DNA manufacturing.

Besides Entos, SOHM recently opened a facility in the city, and generic manufacturer Carlsbad Technology also operates there.