Cambrex invests $120M to expand US API, peptide manufacturing capacity

Contract development and manufacturing organization Cambrex, headquartered in East Rutherford, New Jersey, said it will invest $120 million to expand its U.S. operations to meet growing demand for active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) development and manufacturing. The capital expenditure is also aimed at strengthening the company’s position in the peptide therapeutics market.

The investment will reportedly increase large-scale manufacturing capacity at the company’s Charles City, Iowa facility by 40%, reaching nearly one million liters. The 45-acre site manufactures a range of APIs and pharmaceutical intermediates, including highly potent molecules and controlled substances.

“Our customers, in partnership with federal and state agencies, are reshoring drug manufacturing in the U.S., the world’s largest pharmaceutical market,” CEO Thomas Loewald said in a statement. “Local API production is vital for supply chain security and resilience, and Cambrex will play a key role. We are seeing very strong demand from our customers to partner with Cambrex to utilize this expanded capacity.”

The company said the new investment builds on recent expansions across its network, including the addition of highly potent API capacity in Charles City in 2022, new laboratories and clinical manufacturing space in High Point, North Carolina in 2023, and expanded peptide capabilities in Waltham, Massachusetts earlier this year.