Cambrex, a contract development and manufacturing organisation, held a groundbreaking on Oct. 29 for its $120 million expansion at the Charles City, Iowa site. The project will add 160,000 litres of production capacity, increasing total site capacity by about 25% to nearly one million litres.
The expansion will support development and commercial manufacturing of small-molecule pharmaceutical active ingredients and synthetic peptides. Completion is expected in the fourth quarter of 2028, and the event coincided with the site's 100th anniversary.
"This groundbreaking marks an important milestone in our continued investment in US manufacturing and in the Charles City site," said Claudio Russolo, chief operating officer and incoming chief executive officer of Cambrex. He said the added commercial-scale capacity strengthens the company's ability to support customers from development through commercialisation.
The Charles City plant provides development and manufacturing services for small-molecule APIs, synthetic peptides and pharmaceutical intermediates, supporting projects from clinical development to commercial-scale production. Cambrex employs about 2,000 people across more than 45 years of operation.
