The creation of the contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) follows on from Bridgewest Group completing the acquisition of Pfizer’s sterile injectable manufacturing plant, based in Perth, Australia, a few days prior.
The CDMO will also be based in Perth, in the suburb of Bentley, and will operate under the name NovaCina. At launch, the CDMO will have the capacity to manufacture sterile injectable drug products for all phases, from development to commercial production.
The site will operate with nine production lines, covering oncology/high potency, blow-fill-seal, and multi-format vial streams. In terms of staffing, the site will have more than 400 employees.
Looking to the future, Bridgewest stated that it plans to expand the service offerings available from the site, and broaden its expertise with new equipment and analytics.
NovaCina will be led by Brett Alderson, as president, joining the CDMO directly from his role as site leader of the Perth facility for Pfizer. Alderson had performed this role for five years, and has been employed at the site of over 25 years.
The CDMO will count Pfizer as a client, as it has agreed to continue to manufacture oncology drugs and sterile injectable hospital essentials for the company. Bridgewest noted that supply to all customers would continue uninterrupted, through the changeover of the facility into its hands.
As part of the deal to acquire the facility from Pfizer, Bridgewest also gained ownership of a suite of drug products from the company.
Regarding the facility itself, the site has been in operation for over 30 years, with a space covering 34,000-square-meters, and producing drugs for distribution to 98 countries globally.
In terms of production, the site has annual capacity of more than 120 million blow-fill-seal units, five million oncology/high potency units, and a five million unit capacity for multi-format vials.
Masood Tayebi, CEO of Bridgewest, outlined in a statement that NovaCina is just one of several acquisitions the investment group has made to develop a portfolio of life science companies. Counted within the group are BioDuro-Sundia, the third-largest global contract research and development manufacturing organization, Bio4t2, a clinical-stage biopharma company, and BioCina, a microbial drug CDMO.
“Our investments in Australia with BioCina, and now with NovaCina, will fuel global access to high-quality drugs, capitalizing on the excellent reputation of the region, the facility, and the team,” stated Tayebi.
