Avista Pharma Solutions has completed facility upgrades that double the company’s active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing capacity at its Longmont, CO site. During this expansion, the site’s three existing GMP drug substance manufacturing suites were upgraded, and a fourth GMP suite was added. The facility’s non-GMP capacity was also doubled with the addition of two large-scale development suites.

Among the new equipment installations were four walk-in hoods, three 50-gallon glass-lined reactors, three Hastelloy agitated filter dryers, and various small-scale reactors and mixing vessels. The new, state-of-the-art equipment will provide additional scale and enable processing of complex and potent categories of chemical compounds.

Safety and containment controls were also upgraded during the expansion, giving Avista Pharma the ability to manufacture materials rated up to occupational exposure bands of 3A and 3B by SafeBridge.

“Our investments in suite upgrades and capacity expansion in Longmont have transformed the site into a world-class API manufacturing facility,” said Ken Domagalski, general manager of the Avista Pharma Longmont facility. “Our team of experienced scientists prides itself in finding the most efficient path to success for our clients, further demonstrating our facility as a CMC center of excellence.”

The API facility expansion is one of several major investments at the Longmont site during 2017. Avista Pharma is also in the process of expanding its drug product manufacturing capacity and analytical capacity, as well as adding walk-in stability storage chambers into the additional 20,000-square-foot expansion announced last year.