Cambrex has completed an expansion of its solid form screening and crystallization process development facility in Edinburgh, Scotland. The expansion has doubled the facility's footprint to 15,000 sq.-ft., existing lab space has been refurbished, and an additional 3,500 sq.-ft. of lab space added.

The expansion has added an additional 13 fume cupboards to the lab, including three that are “walk-in”, which will allow the Edinburgh team to increase capacity and provide its clients with larger process crystallization development, up to 20-liter scale. The site currently has 50 employees, and the expansion will add additional lab space to enable the recruitment of up to 40 more scientists, with the potential for further growth in the future.

“We have seen an increase in demand for services, and specifically for larger-scale crystallization projects, so this expansion increases our efficiency and ability to respond to these requests,” commented Tom Loewald, Chief Executive Officer of Cambrex. He added, “The work we carry out at the Edinburgh site is one part of Cambrex’s integrated drug substance offering, and the investment increases our flexibility to work on projects at all stages of drug development.”

Cambrex’s Edinburgh site provides solid form development services for drug substance and drug product, including solid state investigations such as salt, co-crystal, and polymorph screening, in addition to crystallization process development and GMP analytical services. The scientists at the site work on projects both as a standalone service to a range of pharmaceutical innovators, as well as liaising with other Cambrex sites to offer an integrated process development service.