The new process development lab in the Indian state of Maharashtra, southeast of Mumbai and close to Pune, is ACG’s first ACG Laboratories site. The new facility is set to provide ACG's customers and partners with a research, development, testing, and training environment dedicated to the collaborative exploration of all aspects of oral solid dosage manufacturing.

As an extension of ACG's broader customer service offering (which includes process equipment recommendations and solutions, formulation and scale-up support, new product development and validation, and technical training), the new lab now allows ACG clients to explore and solve their manufacturing needs and challenges in a dedicated and state-of-the-art space. The facility also answers a growing customer need for training and assistance with clinical trials and development projects.

On the launch of ACG Laboratories, Marcus Michel, CEO of ACG Engineering, said: "The lab's multi-purpose functionality allows us to support our customers in a way of an aligned partnership throughout the product development process. It provides a 'go-to' knowledge hub for continuous support of the customer in various stages of product manufacturing across different OSD applications.

The Shirwal Process Development Lab houses a dedicated R&D space for small-scale development, and a pilot area for scale-up and process optimisation studies. It is equipped to accommodate multiple projects at a time. The lab is led by a fifteen heads-strong team of industry experts, covering every manufacturing niche and application. Among them are specialists in areas including fluid bed and high shear mixer granulation, bottom spray pellet coating and drying, tablet compression and coating as well capsule filling. To date, this team has been responsible for the development of over 3,500 formulations.

The new lab will also be a benchmark for the industry, Michel added. “The recent situation has shown us how critical close collaboration and agility have become to reaching the end-user’s requirements. If ACG can be part of that evolution with our clients, then we’ll truly be living up to our ‘Make it better’ mission."