Sekisui completes $20.7M expansion for biopharma CDMO capacity

Sekisui Diagnostics announced today that its microbial CDMO business completed construction of a £15.7 million ($20.7 million) drug substance manufacturing capacity expansion.

The company completed its cGMP capacity expansion at its U.K. site for clinical-grade drug substance manufacturing. Following appropriate licensure, the expansion can enable manufacturing capabilities for common drug types. Those include enzymes, proteins and antibody fragment therapies, plus plasmids and enzymes for cutting-edge gene therapy manufacture.

BioProduction by Sekisui is the company’s contract service offering as a fermentation-focused CDMO with expertise in proteins and downstream purification. Its microbial process development and production experience help smooth technical transfer and process scale-up. The company said its new Grade C microbial fermentation and purification suites accommodate production scales up to 1,000L.

“This investment supports the vision and mission of Sekisui Diagnostics and the broader Sekisui Medical Group by enabling the continued growth of our share of the biologics CDMO market,” said Robert Schruender, president & CEO of Sekisui Diagnostics. “We look forward to working with biopharma companies seeking an experienced partner at a time when demand is outstripping manufacturing capacity.”

Louise Digby, VP, Enzymes & BioProduction at Sekisui Diagnostics added: “Over many years we have honed our technical and operational competency and expertise in enzyme production and microbial fermentation to serve our partners globally. This cGMP expansion enables us to support a broader customer base and expand our offering to existing customers.”