Catalent to create European centre of excellence through €27m investment
Drug delivery technology provider Catalent will invest €27 million in its facility in France to create a European centre of excellence for clinical biologics formulation development and drug product fill-finish services.
The Limoges site, which currently employs over 170 staff, will be updated to handle large molecule programmes, with additional capacity for small molecule dosage form development. This will include the installation of a new high-speed flexible line capable of filling vials, syringes or cartridges under barrier isolator technology, as well as enhancements to its analytical and quality control laboratories.
The work will commence in September this year with completion expected sometime in 2022. Catalent has also announced it will gradually hire up to 80 employees to support the new centre of excellence.
The project is being supported by the Prefecture of Haute-Vienne, the Metropolitan Area of Limoges, the Limoges Haute-Vienne Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Regional Council of Nouvelle Aquitaine with a grant of €1.3 million.
The facility will work closely with Catalent’s other biologics sites in Anagni, Italy, Brussels, Belgium, Bloomington, Indiana and Madison, Wisconsin, to provide integrated clinical development and commercial manufacturing solutions.
Mario Gargiulo, region president, Catalent Biologics Europe commented: “The European pharmaceutical market is thriving, and France is currently one of the top five producers in Europe. Our new centre of excellence in Limoges will strengthen Catalent Biologics’ global and European capacities and our ability to bring new biologic treatments to market, faster.” He added, “We are grateful to the Regional Council of Nouvelle-Aquitaine for its support in making this exciting project possible.”
Alain Rousset, president of Region Nouvelle-Aquitaine, added: "From the outset, we supported this project to diversify Catalent's activities in Limoges. This world leader in pharmaceutical development and manufacturing is going to position the site in markets with higher added value. It is a great example of technological reconquest made possible thanks to the mobilisation of the men and women in the company and the ecosystem of innovation that we are developing and encouraging in Nouvelle-Aquitaine. This project contributes to the development of our industrial capacities in the health sector."