PCI Pharma Services, a global pharma outsourcing provider, has announced the completion of the expansion of its new Biotech Center of Excellence in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The major investment will represent the new US biologics flagship site for customers. In addition, PCI has also made significant new investments to expand its global packaging capabilities for biologic drug products at its operations in Ireland, complementing existing capabilities in UK and Germany.
These investments will provide customers with global packaging solutions for their biologics and injectable drug products to meet growing market demands.
"Worldwide forecasts for biologics show strong growth over the next several years, and PCI is staying on top of this trend and investing in the latest technology to enhance capacity and accommodate the novel drug delivery formats of biologic products. We have already secured projects from numerous global biopharmaceutical customers that will benefit from the new expansion, which is a reflection of the market demand," said Salim Haffar, CEO of PCI Pharma Services. "PCI has a rich heritage in biologics going back more than 20 years, but we now have the opportunity to apply this expertise on a larger scale. We are looking forward to leveraging our breadth of experience with the latest technology to help our customers bring life-changing therapies to patients."
The recent investments include partnerships with leading suppliers such as Dividella, groninger, Marchesini Group and Syntegon (formerly Bosch Packaging Technology) to provide equipment for pre-filled syringe, auto-injector and vial packaging and the latest serialisation technology.
The expansions also include increasing high-speed automatic syringe assembly and labelling, vial labelling and cartoning, and auto-injector assembly - allowing for greater flexibility in serving customers across their supply-chain requirements.
In addition to building out existing cold storage capabilities and leading-edge manufacturing suites, PCI will continue to offer innovative design teams to help address the packaging challenges often presented by biologic products.
"With these expansions, our Biotech Centers of Excellence are prepared to support the scale required to meet customers" needs all over the world," said Brad Payne, Chief Operating Officer of PCI Pharma Services. "PCI has the flexibility to handle the dynamic volumes of biopharmaceutical therapies, whether large or small, catering to the needs of our global customer base. This flexibility extends to the varied capacities needed for launches, global ramp-up and ongoing supply. With these investments in high-speed automation, PCI will dramatically improve productivity as well as supply continuity and quality."