Cambrex Corporation has completed the expansion of a new 150 square meter research and development laboratory at its site in Paullo, Milan, Italy. In addition, Cambrex has installed a new 12,000 liter reactor into one of its cGMP manufacturing facilities at the site.
 
The R&D laboratory includes both chemistry and analytical development capabilities, with the installation of semi-automated glass lined reactors, as well as analytical instruments including multiple high and ultra-performance liquid chromatography, and gas chromatography systems, which have now been qualified and validated. To complement investments at other Cambrex sites, the new laboratory has also installed a flow chemistry system to allow for continuous manufacturing development.
 
The installation of the 12,000 liter reactor, along with the replacement of centrifuges with new, more efficient equipment in one of the site’s seven production departments, was part of a $3 million investment to upgrade and improve the efficiency of the plant which manufactures intermediates and generic APIs under GMP conditions.
 
“This investment is part of our ongoing strategy to ensure that the site can adapt to the growing and evolving needs of the generic API industry,” said Aldo Magnini, managing director, Cambrex Milan. “Investing in key technologies such as continuous flow will allow us to look at new opportunities for the site to expand our portfolio of generic products, in a similar manner to the investment in highly potent API containment that we undertook in 2017, which allowed us to increase the number of new highly-potent oncology products in development.”
 
Cambrex manufactures over 70 generic APIs which are produced to cGMP standards at the Milan site, where the seven production departments are supported by a pilot plant, kilo-scale plant and development and analytical laboratories.