Symbiosis Pharmaceutical Services is set to open an office in North America in response to continued demand from U.S.-based biotechnology companies for its vial-filling operations.
The sterile filling firm will open a commercial site in Cambridge, MA, to support its clients on both the East and West Coast, as well as giving the contract manufacturing organization (CMO) a base for reaching new customers in this territory. The company is currently on a recruitment drive to strengthen its U.S. commercial team.
Increased demand for both liquid and lyophilized formulations in injectable dosage forms at Symbiosis has been driven mainly by biotech firms looking for an outsourcing partner with small-scale aseptic manufacturing capabilities to support clinical trials.
Colin MacKay, Symbiosis CEO. (Credit: Symbiosis)
“Given Cambridge is the epicenter of the global biotech community, it is the ideal location for us to open an office in the U.S.,” Colin MacKay, CEO at Symbiosis Pharmaceutical Services, said. “Back in 2015, we took the decision to strategically focus on the North American market after we identified a surge in funding for early stage biotech companies, which are exactly the type of drug development company that are best suited to seek our manufacturing scale and specialist capabilities.
“Since strengthening our U.S.-focused personnel and developing our relationships with networks like ISPE and MassBio, we have significantly grown our U.S. client base which is projected to account for around half of our revenues in 2017,” MacKay added. “Opening the office on the U.S. East Coast is the next stage of the company’s growth strategy.”
At a macro level, demand for biologic and highly potent products is likely being driven by the increased emphasis on the development of treatments for small patient populations in the case of orphan indications, new oncology products requiring containment capabilities and novel tailored personalized medicines, according to MacKay.
“Those kind of products require specific GMP manufacturing skills for the small-scale production of sterile batches for clinical trials,” he added.
(Source: Symbiosis Pharmaceutical Services)
