AMRI opened its new 50,000-sq.-ft. R&D center at the Shapoorji Pallonji Biotech Park in Hyderabad, India. The new facility will provide additional space for the company’s laboratory-scale operations in India.

The new facility includes labs for conducting early stage research such as custom chemical synthesis and analytical chemistry. Additional scale-up labs for preparing preclinical and clinical trial supply active ingredients are expected to open later this year and 2008, respectively. The larger labs will be used to develop efficient methods to produce APIs and intermediates and are equipped with environmental controls and a state-of-the-art wastewater treatment unit. The company invested approximately $8 million in the facility.

“In addition to expanding our capabilities in India, this new state-of-the-art research facility increases our capacity to provide customers with a flexible range of drug discovery and development services out of Asia — all with the same quality they have come to expect from AMRI around the world,” said chairman, chief executive officer and president, Thomas E. D’Ambra, Ph.D. “Moreover, as we increase our presence in Asia, AMRI is proud to be contributing to improving work practices for employee opportunities within our industry, as well as setting a high standard and positive example of environmental stewardship.”