Small molecules in focus as Recipharm bolsters global production facilities
One of Recipharm’s main aims is the expansion of its oral solid dosage and sterile fill & finish services in sites in Europe, the U.S., Israel and India, with the aim to cover all phases of drug development from active pharmaceutical ingredient synthesis to commercial manufacturing.
Recipharm began its life in 1995 as Recip and became Recipharm in 2001, numbering among the biggest CDMOs in the world in terms of revenue. In 2021, the Swedish private equity firm EQT took over Recipharm and delisted it from the Stockholm Stock Exchange.
One of Recipharm’s global sites to see expansion is its small molecule center of excellence in Bengaluru, India, which has a new lab for sterile product development in addition to new labs devoted to extractables and leachables, nitrosamines and elemental impurities. This site and another in Zwickau, Germany, are also seeing advanced material characterisation equipment, a pilot-scale capsule filler, and more.
Bengaluru also has a newly established development lab for sterile formulations for small molecules, while Wasserburg has a Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) line for vials and pre-filled syringes.
While much of the focus is on small molecules, Recipharm’s large molecules capacity is set to benefit from the expansion plans, including with its liquid vials, pre-filled syringes, blow-fill-seal and lyophilised products services.
Recipharm’s investment “bolsters its services for early- and late-stage product development, including clinical study supply at small and pilot scales and wide range of commercial technologies,” said the company in a public release.
The latest investments come just after Recipharm sold seven of its sites in Europe to the U.S. private equity firm Blue Wolf Capital Partners in April 2024. The company made the move as it shifted its focus to oral solid dosage activity on new chemical entities, medium to high potency and on-patent drugs. In the same month, Recipharm also completed the spin-out of Bespak, an organization focused on manufacturing inhaled and nasal drugs and delivery devices.
Rising prevalences of cancer and increasing outsourcing demand from growing pricing and regulatory pressures are driving the global market for small molecule CDMOs, which was worth around $67.93 billion in 2023 and is projected to soar by 7.1% per year to $108.46 billion by 2030.
Another CDMO in the midst of expansion is SK pharmteco, which recently unveiled a $260 million investment in its small molecule and peptide manufacturing muscle in South Korea.
