Medichem CMO Opens High Potency API Facility In Malta
By Cyndi Root
Medichem announced in a press release that it has opened a new High Potency API unit (HPAPI) at its facility in Hal Far, Malta. The Maltese facility is equipped to develop drugs from the research and development phases and to manufacture finished products. The facility is Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved and adheres to Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP).
Ervin Veszprémi, CEO of Medichem, said, “Our expansion to the HPAPI field will allow Medichem to offer a broader product portfolio to our customers. Today, 25 percent of new drugs in development are highly potent, and we expect this tendency to keep growing.”
Medichem Malta Facility
Medichem’s new facilties are located at its manufacturing site in Hal Far, Malta, a southern European country in the Mediterranean Sea. Hal Far is a busy industrial center located in southern Malta. The new multipurpose unit is equipped to synthesize HPAPIs with reactors, filtering, drying, milling, and micronizing equipment. Medichem expects to begin development and production work at the site in the second half of 2014.
HPAI Market
Medichem stated that it built the facility due to the growing HPAPI market. MarketsandMarkets confirms in a report issued in 2011 that the global HPAPI market is growing at a CAGR of 8.3 percent until 2016.
Medichem also wishes to improve its position in the generic pharmaceutical industry, as generic companies are seeking cGMP and FDA approved manufacturing partners. These companies need a reliable supply of drugs such as narcotics, hormones, and retinoids for use in conditions, including musculoskeletal conditions and cancer. Global demand for these potent products is growing due to their ability to target disease at low doses. Due to an intellectual property (IP) process, the Malta facility allows companies the opportunity to market drugs in advance of patent expiration.
About Medichem
Medichem is a privately owned Spanish company based in Barcelona. It has manufacturing facilities in Spain and Malta and an R&D center in China. The company has been manufacturing pharmaceutical products since the 1970s and it has a sister company, Combino Pharm, which develops and manufactures generic drugs. Combino Pharm began in 1996 and produced its first product, Zidovudine Combino Pharm, the first generic drug on the Spanish market. Currently, it has over 30 active ingredients on the market.