Piramal to invest $25 million in US manufacturing site expansion

Piramal Pharma Solutions, the contract development and manufacturing arm of Indian drugmaker Piramal Enterprises (BSE: 500302), has announced plans for a $25 million expansion of its production facilities in Lexington, Kentucky, USA.

The company plan focuses on expanding the Lexington site capabilities and capacity for commercial aseptic manufacturing. This will be done by increasing vial filling capability and lyophilisation capacity, as well as upgrades to the associated facilities and utilities. Piramal’s Lexington site has a strong pipeline of products which are expected to be commercialized in next three to five years. Add to that the fast growing sterile market in the USA, recent consolidations in the CMO space and shut down of many manufacturing sites in the USA, has created a big demand for quality manufacturers in the sterile segment, said Piramal.

The sterile market in the USA and Europe is growing at a healthy rate of 11% and the contract manufacturing in the sterile dosage form is growing at 13% year on year. Piramal believes that it can take advantage of the market situation and grow it Lexington business multi-fold.