Recipharm has sketched out a “multi-million-dollar” investment in its U.S. manufacturing operations as part of a move to boost its sterile fill-finish capabilities and other production offerings for customers.
Although the Swedish CDMO didn’t disclose the exact dollar amount it's throwing down, the company noted on June 15 that the move reflects a continued commitment to the U.S. market. The project further positions the firm to seamlessly bridge clinical and commercial contracting work for its clients, Recipharm said.
The move also comes on the heels of Recipharm inking a clinical biological fill-finish pact with an unnamed "major global pharmaceutical company," the company said Monday. Recipharm argued that the deal indicates the timing is right for an expansion, as demand for U.S.-based capacity for biologics and advanced therapies is at a premium.
At present, the company’s only U.S. production facility is an 80,000-square-foot advanced biologics plant based in Watertown, Massachusetts, which is equipped to produce plasmid DNA and mRNA drug substance, and is also set up for nanoparticle formulation and sterile fill-finish, among other capabilities.
Running through its sterile manufacturing upgrades, Recipharm noted that it has enhanced its aseptic production platform to cover both clinical and commercial programs for North American and European clients. The company will now expand its offerings further to provide support spanning active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) compounding, analytical transfer and validation, process characterization, process performance qualification and aseptic fill and finish manufacturing.
Recipharm is highlighting the appeal of the U.S.-based capacity it's building out as drugmakers look to evade the worst of the Trump administration's drug import tariffs.
While many large pharmas with ample resources have managed to strike deals with the White House that exempt them from present trade duties, small and mid-sized drugmakers may be grappling with fees if they can't lock down domestic capacity for their branded meds.
“This investment enables us to support more programmes from development through commercial supply, while strengthening our ability to help customers scale efficiently and accelerate timelines,” Greg Behar, Recipharm’s chief executive, said in a statement. “The U.S. remains a critical market for our customers, and these investments position Recipharm as a partner of choice for companies bringing the next generation of therapies to patients.”
News of the investment comes shortly after the company announced it was partnering with Fusix Biotech to work on the development and production new cancer immunotherapies that are based on oncolytic virus technology.
Fusix’s lead candidate, FUSE102, is a chimeric oncolytic virus that is genetically engineered to hunt and destroy cancer cells.
Meanwhile, back in February, Recipharm sold its development and small-scale active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing facility in Yavne, Israel, to Scinai Immunotherapeutics, under a deal that allows Scinai to continue to service Recipharm’s clinical-stage customers without interruption.