Upperton Pharma Solutions, a UK-based contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) has increased its tablet manufacturing capabilities following an investment in a new state-of the-art tablet press. This investment will enhance the company’s development and manufacturing capabilities while strengthening their ability to support clients’ research, development and clinical manufacturing needs.
 
The new tablet press, a Futorque X by KG-Pharma is designed specifically to support both R&D studies and production batches. The machine is capable of producing up to 130,000 tablets per hour or supporting DoE and research studies with minimal material and can accommodate multiple tooling formats.
 
The tablet press is the first in a string of equipment investments being made by the CDMO as a follow-up to receiving MHRA approval for its GMP clinical manufacturing facility.
 
“This is an extremely exciting time for the business as we continue to expand on our GMP processing capabilities,” said Paul Kelsall, director of clinical manufacturing, Upperton. “We are always looking to increase our capabilities, in our people, plant and processing equipment and this is a huge step forward as we look to support our clients clinical manufacturing requirements.”
 
Upperton Pharma Solutions develops and produces oral and inhalation drug products for clinical trials.
 
Ian Lafferty, technical consultant, Upperton, said, “The investment in this high specification, versatile instrumented tablet machine provides Upperton Scientists with the equipment to manufacture clinical supplies and will also allow them to generate the data required to gain in-depth understanding and knowledge of process and formulation behavior during compression that is key to supporting our clients during future scale-up, production and registration stages of their product development.”
 
The CDMO’s GMP clinical manufacturing capabilities are based at its site in Nottingham, UK and are supported by its materials characterization, analytical and IP consultancy services.