CPhI News: Aenova builds for future growth
It plans to expand its multiple-unit pellet systems site and ramp up its effervescent tablet production
Aenova is planning a new large-scale production line for pellets at the company’s FDA-certified plant in Lyons, which has previously concentrated on manufacturing tablets and packaging. A pilot production facility has already been brought into operation, the company said at the recent CPhI show.
The German company, formed by a merger of Dragenopharma and Swiss Caps, will be extending its development and production services, in particular in the field of multiple-unit pellet systems (MUPS).
Headquartered in Pähl near Munich, Aenova Group is building fast to be one of Europe’s main providers of development, manufacturing and marketing services for medicines and dietary supplements.
It already has seven production sites in five countries (Germany, Switzerland, France, Romania and the USA) and employs a total of around 1600 people.
Following the increase in the production capacity at its Tittmoning plant last year, the focus is now on the Bad Aibling site, where a highly efficient production line for effervescent products came into operation in June of this year. The new facility brings the annual production capacity of the plant up to 250 million effervescent tablets and the plan is to double this during the course of next year.
With a turnover of around Euro 280m, the company is looking to grow organically with a view to an initial public offering (IPO) in 4-5 years, said ceo Heiner Hoppmann. The company changed hands back in August and now belongs to private equity group BC Partners.
The Aenova Group portfolio consists of solid dosage forms, including soft gelatin capsules, hard capsules, conventional tablets, film-coated tablets, dragées and effervescent tablets. The company provides its customers with a wide variety of pharmaceutical development services, such as formulation and process development, analysis and stability testing for raw materials, intermediates and finished products. Its portfolio also includes scaling-up tests, product transfers and manufacturing and packaging clinical trial batches.