Piramal expands in UK with $11m investment
pharmafile | September 17, 2013 | News story | Manufacturing and Production, Research and Development |Â Â PiramalÂ
Indian drugmaker Piramal Healthcare has said it plans to triple production capacity at a facility in the UK with an investment programme valued at $11 million.
The Morpeth plant in the north east of the country manufactures hormonal products, including contraceptive pills, hormone replacement therapies and hormone-based cancer drugs, and Piramal says the decision to boost capacity comes on the back of “customer demand and new business gains”.
Production capacity at the plant will be boosted by around 2 billion tablets a year, with the new investment spent on formulation, packaging, coating and tableting equipment, according to Piramal. Work on the expansion will get underway later this year, with the build due for completion in around 12 months and validation studies taking a further six months.
Morpeth is one of two commercial-scale active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) facilities operated by Piramal – the other is at Digwal in India – and one of three facilities the company has in the UK.
Another UK facility at Grangemouth recently benefitted from a $2.5 million upgrade which included a second antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) production suite.
Piramal is one of the largest contract manufacturers of hormonal drugs, a sector which has proved resistant to competition as regulations in Europe and the US require the use of a dedicated production plant.
The hormonal sector currently represents a $11 billion market globally and is growing at a pace of 4% to 5% annually”, said Piramal’s chief operating officer Vijay Shah.
“With major competition limited to a small number of CMOs in Europe, Piramal sees major opportunities for growth in this area “‘ he added.
The Indian company said recently it aims to become a top five contract research and manufacturing services (CRAMS) company within the next five years by following a strategy of organic growth coupled with acquisitions and alliances to add technological expertise.
Piramal has been largely following an outsourcing model since selling its generic business to Abbott (now AbbVie) in 2010 for $3.7 billion, although it has a small division developing a series of novel therapeutics led by Alzheimer’s imaging agent florbetaben.
Phil Taylor
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