UK-based contract research organisation Onyx Scientific is set to make a significant investment into continuous flow manufacturing to allow its customers to explore alternatives to the often time-consuming and costly process of batch manufacturing during product research and development programmes.
'The move to continuous flow manufacturing has been seen by a handful of companies in the sector to date so we feel that we are very much at the forefront of technological advances when it comes to the development and production of APIs,' said Denise Bowser, commercial director at Onyx Scientific. 'For us, it makes better use of our space, gives us a quicker output and provides greater flexibility in the manufacturing of compounds as well as delivering considerable cost savings, which we can pass onto clients.'
As part of a wider investment initiative, Onyx Scientific is also strengthening its GMP capability in response to a major uptake from Big Pharma companies, biotechs, universities and major charities involved in drug development. The company reported a 45% uplift in solid-state chemistry related revenues last year, which was driven by early stage campaigns.
'Over the last year or so, we’ve felt a surge in demand for GMP manufacturing at our site in Sunderland so have moved to increase capacity by investing in additional vessels to satisfy market demand,' added Bowser. 'The integration of pre-formulation development and GMP manufacturing has really benefited many clients over the last two years and this is a trend that we expect to continue in the future as clients look for smarter ways to develop compounds.'