Piramal Pharma Solutions (PPS) recently celebrated the opening of its expanded antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) manufacturing facility in Grangemouth, Scotland, UK.
Among the dignitaries participating in the ceremony and ribbon cutting to formally commission the facility was Adrian Gillespie, Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise. Representing Piramal were Nandini Piramal, Chair, Piramal Pharma; Peter DeYoung, CEO, Piramal Pharma Solutions; Herve Berdou, COO, Piramal Pharma Solutions; Chris Leahy, SVP Finance, Piramal Pharma Solutions; and Francois Houbart, Managing Director and Grangemouth Site Head, Piramal Pharma Solutions.
Piramal Pharma Solutions is a global leader in ADC development and manufacturing, with hundreds of payloads developed and more than a thousand ADC batches manufactured.
This expansion further enhances the site’s capacity by approximately 70–80%, enabling scale-up of commercial ADC manufacturing batches.
The capacity expansion, which has been completed for commercialisation within this fiscal year, features two new ADC manufacturing suites specifically designed to complement the existing three.
The £45m investment was financed by a combination of Scottish Enterprise government grant, bank loan, customer co-investment and internal accruals.
The primary beneficiaries of the expansion are Piramal’s customer base and the patients they serve, who are now further supported by the site’s enhanced ability to deliver the full life cycle of ADC development and manufacturing.
This includes ADCelerate, the company’s branded solution for the rapid early-stage development of ADC drugs.
This integrated offering combines the development of the monoclonal antibody (mAb), linker/payload, conjugation, and sterile fill/finish into a single integrated program across four global Piramal sites, including Grangemouth.
The approach simplifies development and manufacturing, speeding the process by which new compounds can get to the patients who need them.
Programmes such as ADCelerate, coupled with the highly skilled workforce in Grangemouth, exemplify how Piramal brings the best science to its customers and their patients.
The site expansion also includes a dedicated customer experience center for clients who are visiting the site during development and/or manufacturing activities, along with new Quality Control laboratories, warehousing, office space, and supporting utilities.
The building, which utilised modular construction technology to expedite its completion, has been designed to accommodate further expansion.
Potential future enhancements may include a new sterile fill/finish suite dedicated to ADCs and two additional large-scale manufacturing suites capable of handling increased batch sizes.
