Shilpa CDMO, the complex-molecule contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) brand of Shilpa Pharma Lifesciences, plans to invest $50 million to expand peptide manufacturing at its Raichur, India campus. The phased investment is intended to add 10 kiloliters of solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) reactor capacity to the three existing clinical-phase manufacturing lines.

The first addition will be a commercial manufacturing line scheduled to open in December 2026, with commercial supply expected to ramp up through 2027, according to the company. Shilpa said the line will include 500-liter and 1,000-liter reactors and will be designed to support annual production of up to 1 metric ton. Downstream equipment will include two 2-meter DAC columns, a preparative high-performance liquid chromatography system rated at 10,000 liters per hour, nanofiltration capacity of 1,000 liters per hour, and a 1,000-liter lyophilizer.

The company also plans to add 2-kiloliter, 3-kiloliter, and 5-kiloliter SPPS reactors as part of the phased expansion. Shilpa said the expanded operation will comprise six parallel current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) lines, supporting SPPS, liquid-phase peptide synthesis, and hybrid synthesis.

According to Shilpa, the platform will support linear, cyclic, and branched peptides, including molecules incorporating unnatural and D-amino acids, lipidation, conjugation, and radioligand components. The company also plans to dedicate one line to cytotoxic peptide manufacturing using SPPS, building on its existing peptide and peptide-conjugate development capabilities.

Shilpa said the investment is intended to address purification bottlenecks during peptide scale-up. The company cited demand for GLP-1 products and increasingly complex peptide therapeutics as drivers of the expansion.

The investment follows the October launch of Shilpa CDMO as a dedicated complex-molecule CDMO brand. The broader business also includes Shilpa Biologicals’ antibody-drug conjugate manufacturing capabilities at its facility in Dharwad, India.