Baxter Healthcare Corp. has expanded lyophilization capacity at its Halle, Germany facility to support the growth of its Baxter BioPharma Solutions (BPS) cytotoxic contract manufacturing business. Two large-scale lyophilization chambers will be added to freeze-dry cancer therapies for its pharma and biopharma partners. The expansion will be complete and fully validated by mid-2007.

“We are expanding to meet the growing demands of the cytotoxic manufacturing market,” said Tom Polen, senior director of marketing for BPS. “As a leader in the industry, we look forward to providing greater capacity and continuing to advance our track record for delivering safe, high-quality products for our customers.”

The lyophilization chambers, which will include technologies such as handling of organic solvents, will be designed to optimize product quality and safety to ensure product integrity. An automated vial loading system and new in-process quality analysis technology will provide advanced control over the manufacturing process to help ensure the highest quality product is produced.