ESTEVE CDMO is expanding its manufacturing and development capabilities in the United States with a further $17.5 million investment at its Morton Grove, Illinois facility. The latest spending package follows a previously announced $15.5 million investment, taking the company’s total announced commitment to the site to $33 million. The expansion is designed to increase production capacity while strengthening containment and early-stage development capabilities. The new investment will fund the installation of two 500-gallon reactors, upgrades to containment capabilities within the site’s early development laboratories, and a renovation of the facility’s warehouse operations.

According to ESTEVE CDMO, the improvements will give its teams greater flexibility during early development and provide additional capacity as customer projects advance into later-stage clinical development and commercial manufacturing. Andrea Oro, managing director of the company’s US operations and global head of commercial operations and strategy, says the project is part of the company’s broader effort to establish Morton Grove as a center for early-stage pharmaceutical development and manufacturing in the U.S.

The Morton Grove facility provides a range of services spanning process research and development, analytical and stability testing, cGMP active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing and chemistry, manufacturing and controls (CMC) support. By combining these capabilities at a single location, the site is intended to support pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers as programs move from development through manufacturing.

The latest upgrades will also provide the Morton Grove workforce with expanded infrastructure and manufacturing capabilities. Chen Qingguang, site director at Morton Grove, says the investment will allow the team to make greater use of its technical expertise while supporting customer programs.

The project forms part of ESTEVE CDMO’s strategy to grow its U.S. footprint while integrating the Morton Grove operation with the company’s wider international development and manufacturing network. With the additional investment, the Illinois facility is positioned to support customers across a broader portion of the drug-development lifecycle, from early process development through increasing manufacturing requirements.

For more information, visit www.esteve.com.