SK pharmteco has announced it will invest more than $200m to expand and upgrade its US development and manufacturing infrastructure for small molecules and peptides.
The upgrades are expected to take around five years, with the company aiming to bolster supply chain resilience and support "unprecedented" customer demand.
The news follows SK pharmteco’s previous announcement in October last year that it was investing $6m in its California facility to boost peptide development, as well as news in August of this year that it would open two advanced manufacturing facilities in Ireland.
The company also declared a $260m capacity expansion in South Korea in 2024 to expand its global small molecule and peptide production.
Forming part of the new investment plan, SK pharmteco said that it would be making targeted investments across key technology platforms, including the following:
- State-of-the-art development labs: launching new, fully operational development laboratories to accelerate early- through late-stage development for small molecules and peptides
- Advanced peptide purification: expanding peptide manufacturing with new GMP kilo-scale capacity (scheduled to be operational in late 2026) alongside advanced liquid chromatography capabilities
- Expanded & upgraded manufacturing: constructing new manufacturing suites and modernising existing GMP capacity to meet growing demand for small-molecule APIs
- Infrastructure & sustainability: investing heavily in utility upgrades, logistics and digital infrastructures and green technology to ensure sustainable, high-efficiency operations.
The multi-year investment is projected to create 100 long-term, high-skilled jobs in the US, significantly strengthening domestic capabilities in active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), peptide and advanced therapy supply.
"This commitment to our domestic operations marks a transformative milestone for SK pharmteco," said Joerg Ahlgrimm, SK pharmteco CEO.
"By expanding our domestic capabilities across small molecules and peptides, we are directly addressing unprecedented demand from our broad customer base."
Combined with our focus on green technology and modern infrastructure, we are ensuring our customers have a highly reliable, sustainable and cutting-edge partner from early-stage development through full commercialisation.
