Cambrex, a leading global contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO), announces a $120m investment to expand its US operations, addressing increased demand for API development and manufacturing, and accelerating the company's leadership role in the fast-growing peptide therapeutics market.
"Our customers, in partnership with federal and state agencies, are reshoring drug manufacturing in the US, the world's largest pharmaceutical market."
Local API production is vital for supply chain security and resilience, and Cambrex will play a key role. We are seeing strong demand from our customers to partner with Cambrex to utilise this expanded capacity," commented Thomas Loewald, CEO of Cambrex.
The $120m investment will support a 40% increase in the Charles City, Iowa site's large-scale manufacturing capacity, reaching nearly one million litres.
The Charles City facility, situated on a 45-acre site, manufactures a broad range of APIs and pharmaceutical intermediates, including highly potent molecules and controlled substances.
"With rising demand for US-based supply chains for critical therapies, Cambrex is focused on supporting the long-term stability of pharmaceutical manufacturing in the United States," Loewald added.
"The investment in our Charles City facility, the nation's largest independent API manufacturing site, reflects our commitment to meeting clients' evolving needs for small molecule and peptide manufacturing."
This commitment builds on Cambrex's heritage of investing in its drug development and manufacturing network, and follows previous expansions over the past 5 years, including
- the addition of highly potent API and large-scale manufacturing capacity in Charles City, Iowa (2022)
- new, state-of-the-art laboratories, clinical and small-to-medium volume commercial manufacturing capacity, designed for commercial therapies targeting rare diseases and orphan designations, in High Point, North Carolina (2023)
- expanded capabilities and new GMP manufacturing capacity for peptide therapeutics in Waltham, Massachusetts (2025).