Patheon plans to make additional investments in its Milton Park facility in Oxfordshire, UK, to expand early development capabilities. The site currently provides proof-of-concept and first-in-man development programs for oral dose forms, as well as Quick to Clinic, which aims to provide clinical trial materials as fast as four months from receipt of API.
 
With the first investment phase, the company will introduce the SoluPath program, a fixed-price, multi-platform solution designed to improve bioavailability by allowing parallel formulation screening using multiple technologies to review aqueous, lipid-based and solid state formulations. The goal is to provide a unique formulation development program for low solubility/bioavailability molecules to facilitate a faster route to the clinic. The company also plans to purchase a new hot melt extrusion screening tool and spray-drier to supplement existing technologies.  
 
“The introduction of Solupath into Milton Park’s existing capabilities is an exciting addition to Patheon’s service offering in Europe,” said Robin Platt, senior director of operations for Milton Park. “Poorly soluble compounds are increasingly common in pharmaceutical development and we believe Solupath provides a mechanism for identifying the most effective way of improving bioavailability of molecule in these cases.”