The expansion will increase the site's material handling capabilities and containment vault, as well as, provide more laboratory space and capacity for existing turnkey activities

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Catalent invests $175m to expand production capacity at Kentucky plant in US. (Credit: Miguel Á. Padriñán from Pixabay)

US-based Catalent announced an investment of $175m to expand the production capabilities for large scale oral dose forms in Winchester, Kentucky.

Catalent will use the funds to build two new buildings, expected to be operational by January 2024, which will add 107,000ft² to the site’s manufacturing footprint.

The firm will increase the site’s material handling capabilities and containment vault, as well as, provide more laboratory space and capacity for existing turnkey activities.

Furthermore, the capacity of dual fill encapsulation and pan coating alongside a variety of packaging solutions and analytical services will also be boosted.

When fully operational, the expansion will generate up to 277 new jobs, adding to the existing workforce of more than 650.

Catalent’s investment follows the announcement to double the site’s footprint to 190,000ft² in 2015 and a $40m investment in 2019 that involved the installation of new equipment for stick pack dosage manufacturing, integrated packaging lines and expanded the roller compaction and fluid bed capacity.

Catalent Softgel & Oral Technologies president Aris Gennadios said: “We are witnessing a broad increase in demand for manufacturing, and the nature of the development pipeline being strong in both oncology treatments and complex molecules, necessitates the expansion of specific capabilities in areas such as highly potent materials handling.

“Our Winchester site has a rich history in the successful commercialization of new products, and this expansion is the latest in a series of strategic investments, totaling hundreds of millions of dollars, to ensure that the current and future needs of our customers can be met.”

Catalent’s Winchester plant was opened in 1992 for complex oral drug formulation and manufacturing. Since its launch, the facility introduced more than 150 new products into the market and produces over three-billion tablets and capsules annually.

Last month, Catalent announced a multi-year $350m investment at its facility in Bloomington, Indiana, to bolster the biologics drug substance and drug product manufacturing capabilities.