Contract development and manufacturing organization Ritedose Corporation is expanding its packaging operations with the addition of a seventh Syntegon line at its Columbia, South Carolina facility.

The new equipment will double the company’s capacity for individually wrapped vial medications, enabling the site to handle between 160 million and 170 million vials annually.

The added line comes as Ritedose prepares to support manufacturing of Ohtuvayre, a newly approved inhaled chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) drug from Verona Pharma. Ritedose was selected as Verona’s manufacturing partner in September 2024. The line will also allow the company to meet growing demand for unit dose packaging across additional therapeutic areas.

The Syntegon line, designed for automated secondary packaging, is undergoing Site Acceptance Testing and is expected to be operational by early summer 2025. Ritedose has worked with Syntegon Technology for more than two decades to advance its sterile Blow-Fill-Seal (BFS) production for ophthalmic and respiratory drugs.

This latest expansion follows a recent 180-million-unit increase in sterile BFS capacity announced earlier this year. With the new line, Ritedose aims to increase efficiency and flexibility in delivering sterile, single-dose treatments to pharmaceutical partners. The company claims it is the largest sterile contract development manufacturing organization in the U.S. specializing in BFS technology.