Cambrex Completes Major Expansion of Solid Form Screening Facility


Cambrex recently announced the completion of an expansion of its solid form screening and crystallization process development facility in Edinburgh, Scotland. This major expansion project has seen the facility’s total footprint doubled to 15,000 square feet, with existing laboratory space having been refurbished, and an additional 3,500 square feet of laboratory space added.

“We have seen an increase in demand for services, and specifically for larger-scale crystallization projects, so this expansion increases our efficiency and ability to respond to these requests,” said Tom Loewald, Chief Executive Officer of Cambrex. “The work we carry out at the Edinburgh site is one part of Cambrex’s integrated drug substance offering, and the investment increases our flexibility to work on projects at all stages of drug development.”

Cambrex’s Edinburgh site is a world-class facility, providing solid form development services for drug substance and drug product. These include solid state investigations such as salt, co-crystal, and polymorph screening, in addition to crystallization process development and GMP analytical services. The expert scientists at the site work on projects both as a standalone service to a range of pharmaceutical innovators, as well as liaising with other Cambrex sites to offer an integrated process development service.

The expansion has added an additional 13 fume cupboards to the laboratory, including three that are “walk-in”, which will allow the Edinburgh team to increase capacity and provide its clients with larger process crystallization development, up to 20-liter scale. The site currently has 50 employees, and the expansion will add additional laboratory space to enable the recruitment of up to 40 more scientists, with the potential for further growth in the future.

Cambrex is the leading small molecule company that provides drug substance, drug product, and analytical services across the entire drug lifecycle. The company provides customers with an end-to-end partnership for the research, development, and manufacture of small molecule therapeutics. With over 35 years of experience and a growing team of over 2,100 experts servicing global clients from sites in North America and Europe, Cambrex is a trusted partner in branded and generic markets for API and dosage form development and manufacturing.

Cambrex offers a range of specialist drug substance technologies and capabilities, including biocatalysis, continuous flow, controlled substances, solid-state science, material characterization, and highly potent APIs. Cambrex can also support conventional dosage forms, including oral solids, semi-solids, and liquids, and has the expertise to manufacture specialist dosage forms such as modified-release, fixed-dose combination, pediatric, bi-layer tablets, stick packs, topicals, controlled substances, and sterile and non-sterile ointments.