Evonik to build $108M GMP drug product facility in Canada
Evonik, a specialty chemicals company headquartered in Essen, Germany, is investing more than CAD 150 million ($108 million) to build a Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) drug product manufacturing facility for lipid-based drug delivery in Vancouver, Canada. The project is supported by up to CAD 68 million ($48 million) in funding from the Canadian federal government’s Strategic Response Fund.
Drug product production is planned to begin by the end of 2029. The site will support development and clinical manufacturing of lipid-based pharmaceutical products, including lipid nanoparticle (LNP) and liposomal formulations.
The new facility will have more than three times the manufacturing capacity of Evonik’s existing Vancouver operation for advanced pharmaceutical products. The expansion will also add quality control and microbiological testing capabilities.
Evonik Vancouver Laboratories, formerly known as Transferra Nanosciences and Northern Lipids, has provided lipid-based drug delivery development and manufacturing services since the 1990s. The site currently supports LNP and liposomal delivery systems from formulation development through GMP clinical manufacturing and commercial process scale-up.
Evonik operates a global network supporting lipid and LNP formulation development and manufacturing. The company said processes developed for clinical manufacturing in Vancouver can be transferred to its Birmingham, Alabama facility for larger-scale production. The network also includes lipid and adjuvant supply operations in Dossenheim and Hanau, Germany, research and development capabilities in the Greater Boston area, and a planned global-scale lipid production facility at the company’s Tippecanoe site in Lafayette, Indiana.
In July, Evonik entered an agreement with Brenntag for the exclusive distribution of its pharmaceutical-grade amino acids across most European markets. The products are manufactured in accordance with GMP standards and used in active pharmaceutical ingredients, excipients, medical nutrition products, and cell culture media.