A spokeswoman for the CMO told Outsourcing-pharma.com it has teamed with a commercial client to invest in 6,124sqft of cold storage capacity for antibody-based drugs, bulk substances, trial placebos and filled vials at its facility in Craigavon.
She added that: “Unfortunately we can’t name the client, but they are a US clinical stage biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialisation of monoclonal antibody-based therapies for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune disease.
“The expansion was a joint investment but it is not client dedicated. The expansion was constructed to cover future growth in cold chain storage requirements both by the co-investor and additional Almac clients.”
This was echoed by David Downey, Almac VP of commercial operations, who said that: “It is a pleasure to be able to expand our scope of services through this shared investment.
“Our ability to ensure all necessary preparations are made for this important commercial launch, positions Almac well within this growing biopharmaceutical sector”.
The investment comes at a busy time of expansion for Almac which, in the last month alone, has partnered with Exco InTouch on patient management, installed wallet presses at its facility in Craigavon and launched controlled drug operations at its new US headquarters.
Prior to that Almac announced that the laboratory unit at its Pennsylvannia facility to provide North American customers with chromatography analysis and dissolution testing.
The CMO’s diagnostics business launched a bioinformatics consultancy service focused on biomarker discovery and development through to clinical study designed and data interpretation.
Outsourcing-pharma.com will be speaking with Almac at Interphex in New York later this week.