Catalent, the Somerset-based provider of drug delivery technologies, has invested $14 million in a new manufacturing facility in Indiana, planning to create a North American center of excellence, it announced this week.
The 23,000-square-foot facility in Bloomington will handle early-phase clinical biologics formulation development and drug product fill and finish services, Catalent said in a news release.
The $14 million price includes the acquisition of the facility from AB BioTechnologies Inc., as well as its buildout and qualification. The site, which features a new flexible filling line for vials, syringes and more, is expected to begin supporting customer programs in January.
“The addition of this new small-scale filling capability underlines Catalent’s commitment to our customers with early-stage programs looking to accelerate molecules into the clinic,” Mike Riley, region president, biologics, North America, said in a prepared statement. “The filling line will also be fully leveraged as part of our OneBio offering, an integrated solution for drug substance and drug product development, manufacturing and clinical supply.”
The facility will be integrated with Catalent’s main Bloomington facility, where the company recently said it would be investing $50 million for a new high-speed vial filling line. Catalent will have three high-speed vial lines, two high-speed syringe lines, one high-speed flexible filling line and one small-scale flexible filling line operating in Bloomington by the end of 2021, it noted.
This will be Catalent’s second center of excellence, following the $30 million investment establishing one in France.
