The Rockford hub will have product testing capability, top-load cartoning technology, and injector and pen assembly equipment

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The new facility of PCI Pharma Services in Rockford will support the packaging of vials, pre-filled syringes, auto-injectors, and pen cartridge combinations. (Credit: Arek Socha from Pixabay)

PCI Pharma Services has unveiled plans to invest $50m for a new 200,000ft2 centre of excellence facility in Rockford, Illinois, US.

The site is expected to enhance the capacity of the contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) in injectable drug-device combination product assembly of both biologics and small molecules.

According to the CDMO, the new hub is the second expansion after its Philadelphia biotech centre of excellence.

Expected to be operational fully in summer of 2024, the new facility will have over 20 customer suites with multiformat machines for the assembly and packaging of vials, auto-injectors, pre-filled syringes, and pen-cartridge combinations.

PCI Pharma Services said that the machines can be utilised to make glucagon-like peptide 1 agonists (GLP-1) class of drugs prescribed to treat diabetes and obesity. The machinery can be used for oncology treatment and autoimmune diseases as well.

The company revealed that the Rockford hub will house product testing capability, top-load cartooning technology, and injector and pen assembly equipment.

Additionally, the site will have on-site cold storage, packaging of multiformat autoinjectors, high-speed vial labelling, assembly, serialisation, testing, and drug product release.

PCI Pharma Services CEO Salim Haffar said: “We see the tremendous impact that we can make with patients with this investment.

“The need for injectable drug-delivery device combination product capacity and expertise is critical, and we are responding with a world-class facility to address the future demands of our global clients so they can focus on developing therapies to improve the lives of patients with serious chronic conditions.”

The investment in the new hub is expected to boost the firm’s specialty drug presence in the Midwest region, adding to the clinical and commercial sterile fill-finish capabilities in Madison, Wisconsin.

The facility will serve as a second hub within the US for the company, expanding from its foundation in the Northeast, with Bedford, New Hampshire’s campus growth in aseptic processing, the American CDMO added.

As per the firm, the expansion project in Rockford is anticipated to generate 250 jobs in the region in the coming two years, with scope for growth in the following years.