CRO

Catalent puts $35M into CMO plant

With an eye on the rising demand for innovative dosing solutions, Catalent is expanding its capabilities in controlled-release manufacturing, planning to spend $35 million to expand a Kentucky facility.

Catalent plans to add about 80,000 square feet to its 100,000-square-foot Winchester plant, kicking off construction this month with a goal of bringing the new space online in October 2014. The contract developer plans to add about 90 jobs once the expansion is complete, and Catalent said the added heft will help it meet market demand for novel drug-delivery technologies.

The expansion comes as Catalent is spreading its reach across the world, in March inking two deals to grow its Chinese market share. The company bought a majority stake in Zhejiang Jiang Yuan Tang Biotechnology, which produces softgels, and signed up with ShangPharma to provide clinical trial supplies in the country through a joint venture.

This year alone, Catalent has quadrupled its biologics capabilities with a biomanufacturing facility in Madison, WI, invested $20 million in its North Carolina inhalable drug operation and licensed antibody-drug conjugate technology from Redwood Bioscience to get its hat in one of biotech's hottest rings.

"Catalent has continued to build on its global leadership in advanced drug development solutions and advanced delivery technologies with major recent investments in controlled-release forms, including fluid bed capacity, OptiMelt hot melt extrusion, and OSDRC OptiDose advanced tableting technologies," Catalent President and CEO John Chiminski said in a statement.

- read the announcement