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Flamma Invests $200 Million to Expand CDMO Capabilities

23.03.2023 - Italian CDMO Flamma Group intends to invest $200 million over the next three years to expand its capabilities to meet growing market demand.

The money will be spent on various projects that include revamping and improving its site in Bulciago, Italy, which Flamma acquired in April 2022 from Teva, and completing a new GMP facility in Dalian, China. Capacity at the Chinese plant, run by Flamma Honkai, will rise from 200m3 for small molecule APIs and new chemical entities to 400m3 initially, and then ultimately to 800m3.

Flamma will also add new technologies across its sites in Italy, China and the US, which will include expanding its existing flow chemistry capabilities in Italy.

In addition, the CDMO will make further improvements at its two other facilities in Italy, namely at Chignolo and Isso, where work will include upgrading existing analytical services together and installing new equipment, such as reactors, filter dryers and distillation units.

In Malvern, Pennsylvania, USA, Flamma will build out of an API clean room and undertake additional improvements to its high potent API (HPAPI) capabilities.

The company said it has built a network of sites in Europe, North America and China that offers companies the flexibility to transfer projects across locations. It also noted that China’s domestic market for APIs will grow dramatically in the coming years.

“Flamma will continue to reinvest in itself to provide further flexibility between all of our sites,” said CEO Gianpaolo Negrisoli. “We are aware of customer sensitivity about their supply chain. Years of work and huge investments have been placed into their molecules. This cannot be jeopardized by looking for the lowest price or underestimating the risks of a weak supply chain.”

Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist