ten23 health, a global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), has acquired swissfillon AG, located in Visp, Switzerland. swissfillon will join ten23 to enhance the companies’ integrated offering of drug product development services and fill-finish manufacturing to their combined group of customers.
 
swissfillon is a leader in the sterile filling of complex pharmaceuticals into innovative containers and devices. The company, which was founded in 2013, employs over 50 people and is a specialized player in the global CDMO market. swissfillon’s operations have been approved by Swissmedic for the European market since 2018 and by the FDA for the U.S. market since 2019. The company currently supports various clinical and early commercial customer programs.
 
The combined business of ten23 health and swissfillon will provide an integrated offering for sterile drug product development and manufacturing of biologics, challenging molecules and dosage forms. swissfillon will continue to operate under its brand, which stands for first-class Swiss quality and excellent know-how. Prof. Dr. Hanns-Christian Mahler will serve as CEO of the combined entities under the ten23 health umbrella. Daniel Kehl, founder of swissfillon, will remain with the business in a key leadership role and will help to lead ten23’s new infrastructure engineering projects that are of great strategic importance for the further development of the combined offering.
 
swissfillon manufactures sterile dosage forms—usually a syringe, cartridge or vial—which allow a drug substance to be administered to a patient to meet the increasing market demand for complex products and patient centric application forms. Biologics are sensitive to temperature and manufacturing stresses and are often developed for applications such as intraocular or subcutaneous injection, requiring specific expertise in both development and manufacturing.
 
swissfillon´s latest generation fill/finish technologies allow very small quantities to be filled, while minimizing losses of these very expensive drugs. swissfillon also has a specialized expertise in bubble-free filling, ensuring dose precision and product safety, specifically relevant for subcutaneous and intravitreal injetions. Last year, swissfillon also supplied 0.8 million aseptically filled transport media in syringes for the Swiss army pharmacy’s COVID-19 PCR test kit related to the urgent provision of testing capabilities.
 
“We look forward to join ten23 health’s world-class team. There is a great strategic fit between our profound expertise in sterile drug product manufacturing for complex pharmaceuticals and ten23 health’s focus on the development and manufacturing of injectable treatments,” said Daniel Kehl, current CEO of swissfillon. “By pooling our profound expertise, we will be able to further expand our market position for injectable treatments. The swissfillon team looks forward to continue advancing under the ten23 health umbrella and providing our combined group of customers with excellent support and customizable solutions.”
 
Hanns-Christian Mahler, CEO of ten23 health, said, “Sterile fill and finish services are expected to experience significant growth over the coming years. The rising demand is driven by expanded drug development pipelines, incorporating more complex, large-molecule products and therapies that require specific expertise for both development and sterile production. This is precisely why we expect ten23 health´s services, now including swissfillon, to be in great demand. At ten23 health, we are very pleased that we can now offer this sought-after know-how to biotech startups and pharmaceutical companies from one single source.”