Catalent to invest $30m on clinical manufacturing site in France
Catalent Biologics will spend $30m (€27m) to upgrade its existing facility, which is located in Limoges, France.
The ‘European center of excellence’ will receive a grant from the Nouvelle Aquitaine region of €1.3m to support its buildout, with the site expected to create more than 80 roles, adding to the existing 170.
The facility performs formulation development and drug product fill-finish services primarily for large molecule programs, though it will hold additional capacity for small molecule dosage form development.
Catalent aims to complete the improvements to the 180,000-square-foot facility in 2022, with work expected to begin later this year in September.
In terms of equipment, the facility will be outfitted with a high-speed flexible line capable of filling vials, syringes or cartridges under barrier isolator technology, as well upgrades being made to analytical and quality control laboratories.
The planned upgrade to the site arrives as Catalent finds its services in high demand, as manufacturers look to secure capacity for manufacturing and fill-finish services for COVID-19 vaccines.
In January, the company completed a deal for Bristol Myers Squibb’s site in Anagni, Italy, and then found its services in demand by AstraZeneca for fill-finish of its potential vaccine at the same site.
In the US, Catalent signed up to provide large-scale commercial manufacturing for Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine effort and is set to complete fill-finish for Moderna’s RNA vaccine, effectively sealing deals to work with three of the leading efforts against the novel coronavirus.
