The five-year, $100 million investment strategy launched by Cambrex – a contract development and manufacturing company based in East Rutherford – is ahead of schedule. An entire year ahead, to be exact.

In total, the initiative adds more than 150,000 square feet of capacity as well as expands capability across 70% of its North American and European drug development and manufacturing network. According to a March 18 announcement, the company said the projects will be completed by the end of 2024.

“When we began this journey, we aligned our investment strategy to the future needs of our pharmaceutical customers. In addition to manufacturing capacity, we invested in specialized technologies to accelerate the development of highly potent APIs [active pharmaceutical ingredients] and complex synthetic candidates,” Cambrex CEO Tom Loewald said in a statement.

Loewald added, “I’m thrilled to announce that these capabilities and capacity will be available to the market well ahead of schedule, showcasing the efforts of our talented site operations and engineering teams.”

The projects include:

• Capacity expansions in Charles City, Iowa, and High Point, N.C., adding clinical and commercial manufacturing suites for small-volume, large-volume and highly potent API manufacturing.  
• Expanded capabilities in Longmont, Colo., to join analytical services in the same facility as drug substance and drug product development. 
• Added specialized technologies for continuous flow process development and complex synthetics in Waltham, Mass. 
• Expanded research and development capabilities in Milan, Italy, in addition to a new high potency lab for API process and analytical development. 
• Commissioned a new stability storage facility in Liege, Belgium. 

This year’s work will include final expansion phases at its Iowa and Karlskoga, Sweden, facilities.

Founded in 1981 as a fine chemical manufacturer, Cambrex was acquired by an affiliate of the Permira funds in December 2019 in a deal worth approximately $2.4 billion. The company now employs about 2,000 team members globally.