Cambrex Celebrates its 40th Anniversary while Investing over $100 million in New Drug Substance Manufacturing Capacity

Cambrex recently celebrated the 40th anniversary of its founding in 1981. Following forty years of growth and transformation into a leading global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), Cambrex continues its commitment to leadership in pharmaceutical drug substance manufacturing with over $100 million of investments in progress across its global manufacturing network.

“As Cambrex celebrates our 40th anniversary, we are proud to be making significant investments in capacity and new capabilities across our network,” said Thomas Loewald, Cambrex CEO. He added, “Paired with our growing team of over 2,200 employees; these investments will enable us to serve our customers better as we partner with them in the development and manufacturing of novel, life-changing therapies.”

The largest of the expansions in Charles City, IA, is a $50 million project to support the large-scale development and manufacturing of small molecule drug substances. As the latest in a series of significant investments at the site, the expansion will increase the facility’s capacity by approximately 30 percent with reactors sized up to 16,000 liters, ideal for efficient production of large-volume commercial drug substances. The new capacity will come online during the first half of 2022.

In October 2021, a further $30 million investment was announced at Cambrex’s High Point, NC facility focused on clinical-stage drug substance and small-volume commercial manufacturing services. Now in progress, the expansion will approximately double the facility’s capacity by adding new chemistry laboratories, new clinical manufacturing suites, and a small-scale commercial manufacturing operation with reactors up to 2,000 liters. In addition to expanding Cambrex’s leadership in continuous flow chemistry, this investment will give Cambrex the ability to develop and manufacture highly potent APIs for its customers within a single facility. The High Point facility expansion will be completed during the first half of 2023.

In Europe, Cambrex is midway through a series of upgrades at its Karlskoga, Sweden facility totaling over $20 million, which will increase multi-purpose capacity by 25 percent and provide more flexibility in API manufacturing. Less than a year removed from installing a new 6,000-liter drug substance production line, the site is now executing a similar project to add additional cGMP manufacturing capacity by the end of 2022.

These investments, which span all scales of clinical and commercial drug substance manufacturing, will ensure Cambrex continues to be well-positioned to support its customers in the development and manufacturing of innovative new therapies that improve human health.