Slovakia-based contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Saneca Pharma has secured an agreement with Italian pharmaceutical company Menarini Group to deliver controlled release pellets for one of its products.

As part of the five-year supply agreement, Saneca Pharma will be investing in its facility in Hlohovec, Slovakia, to increase the scale at which it can perform wurster coating of the pellets. The pellets are made by extrusion spheronization.

The CDMO’s technology will be used to produce enteric coated pellets aimed at preventing dissolution in the stomach, while allowing dissolution in the small intestine.

“We are pleased to be able to offer Menarini a responsive solution to help ensure the long term viability of its product,” said Anthony Sheehan, chief executive officer, Saneca Pharma. “At Saneca Pharma, we have the breadth of technologies and expertise to handle challenging and complex pharmaceutical development and manufacturing projects. This new contract is just one example of how we can assist drug developers and manufacturers with specialist techniques to improve drug efficiency, delivery and patient compliance.”

Before securing the contract, Saneca Pharma demonstrated its pellet manufacturing capabilities to Menarini at a small scale using 100kg batch sizes. Following the investment at its plant, the CDMO will be able to handle significantly larger batch sizes.

“Saneca Pharma is the ideal partner for our pellet manufacturing needs as the team possess the experience along with the technology to successfully support us for these supplies,” said Francesco Nuzzolo, corporate director of manufacturing, Menarini Group. “Saneca’s experts were extremely responsive and flexible from the outset of our relationship, demonstrating that they could manufacture enteric coated pellets in a cost-effective manner. We look forward to a successful, long-term partnership.”

Based in western Slovakia, with close proximity to Vienna, Saneca Pharma develops and manufactures a variety of finished dosage forms, with strong capabilities in solids and semi-solids and specialist expertise in the development of opiate APIs and final dosage forms from farm to pharmacy.