3 minute read - 20th December 2023
Piramal Pharma Solutions completes £45m UK investment
Piramal Pharma Solutions, a pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing company, has officially opened its expanded antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) manufacturing facility in Grangemouth, Scotland.
Piramal Pharma Solutions is a global leader in ADC development and manufacturing, with hundreds of payloads developed and more than a thousand ADC batches manufactured. This expansion further enhances the site’s capacity by approximately 70% to 80%, enabling the scale-up of commercial ADC manufacturing batches. The capacity expansion, which has been completed for commercialisation within this fiscal year, features two new ADC manufacturing suites specifically designed to complement the existing three.
The £45m investment in the expansion was financed by a combination of Scottish Enterprise government grant, bank loan, customer co-investment, and internal accruals.
Piramal Pharma Solutions has completed a £45m expansion programme at its Grangemouth facility / Picture: Piramal Pharma Solutions
The primary beneficiaries of the expansion are Piramal’s customer base and the patients they serve, who are now further supported by the site’s enhanced ability to deliver the full life cycle of ADC development and manufacturing. This includes ADCelerate™, the company’s branded solution for the rapid early-stage development of ADC drugs. This integrated offering combines the development of the monoclonal antibody (mAb), linker/payload, conjugation, and sterile fill/finish into a single integrated program across four global Piramal sites, including Grangemouth. The approach simplifies development and manufacturing, speeding the process by which new compounds can get to the patients who need them.
The site expansion also includes a dedicated customer experience centre for clients who are visiting the site during development and/or manufacturing activities, along with new quality control laboratories, warehousing, office space, and supporting utilities. The building, which utilised modular construction technology to expedite its completion, has been designed to accommodate further expansion. Potential future enhancements may include a new sterile fill/finish suite dedicated to ADCs and two additional large-scale manufacturing suites capable of handling increased batch sizes.
Peter DeYoung, chief executive officer of Piramal Pharma Solutions, said: “The global ADC market is growing strongly and so is the pipeline at Grangemouth, necessitating additional capacity to meet customer demand. This expansion allows us to cater to further growth and take on future projects. We see the market gravitating towards large and commercial scale manufacturing, which the new facility is well equipped to address. We’ve now doubled our ADC production capacity, strengthening our ability to service customers throughout the entire drug lifecycle.”
Adrian Gillespie, chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, added: “Today’s opening marks the completion of Piramal’s welcome £45 million investment into Scotland’s life sciences sector, creating and safeguarding high-quality jobs. We’re pleased that the company chose Scotland as the ideal location for its pioneering work on ADCs – a new and growing area of medical innovation. We look forward to continuing and deepening our relationship with Piramal.”
