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Sterling Pharma to invest £10m at Tyne and Wear plant
Global contract development and manufacturing firm, Sterling Pharma Solutions, has recently announced the next phase of a multi-year investment strategy at its site in Dudley, Tyne and Wear. The £10m plan will see the building and commissioning of new process development laboratories, and the installation of additional commercial-scale manufacturing equipment to meet the ongoing growth in demand for small molecule API manufacturing.
The project, which is due to be completed in mid-2022, includes the installation of a 4.5 cubic metre hydrogenator, capable of pressure reactions up to 10 bar, as well as supplemental conical and filter dryers within the existing manufacturing plant.
Additionally, new kilo-scale and technology laboratories will be built in the site’s material science centre, which was constructed as an earlier part of the investment strategy in 2020. The laboratories will be equipped to develop commercial-scale processes for customers using biocatalysis, and to enhance capabilities at the recently established flow chemistry centre of excellence.
Sterling Pharma Solutions is to make a £10m investment at its plant in Tyne and Wear to increase process development and manufacturing capacity / Picture: Sterling Pharma Solutions
Kevin Cook, chief executive officer at Sterling, said: “The next phase of our strategic plan is to increase and enhance our capacity to develop and scale up processes for commercial readiness, and is testament to the continued, strong interest that we are seeing in small molecule development. Having the capabilities and expertise across a range of advanced technologies is crucial to ensure that Sterling can continue to be an industry-leading partner for API development and manufacturing, and meet the future demands of our customers.”
Sterling’s 42-acre site in Dudley opened in 1969 and employs over 550 people to manufacture small molecule APIs from development phase through to commercial supply.