By Mark McSherry
Croda International, the Snaith, East Yorkshire-based FTSE 100 speciality chemicals giant, announced that the United States government has agreed to provide up to $75 million to expand the company’s US manufacturing capacity of ingredients for lipid systems used in novel therapeutic drugs, such as mRNA vaccines.
Croda will also invest up to $58 million, bringing the total project investment to up to $133 million.
This spend is included within the company’s existing capital expenditure programme, outlined in the 2021 annual results.
“The investment will be used to establish a new lipid facility as part of a new multi-purpose cGMP site in Lamar, Pennsylvania,” said Croda.
“Construction is expected to start later this year, with the new capacity anticipated in 2025.
“The investment supports expansion of the portfolio of patient health care solutions offered by Croda, by creating a third manufacturing site for lipid systems, alongside Croda’s existing Alabaster, Alabama, U.S. (Avanti) and Leek, United Kingdom capabilities.
“The cooperative agreement is a joint award from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Defense’s Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND) in partnership with the Army Contracting Command’s Joint COVID Response Division (ACC JCRD).
“The new facility is part of a programme to expand the U.S. industrial base supporting critical vaccine and therapeutic manufacturing activities.
“The facility at Lamar will support U.S. preparedness for future health emergencies, by ensuring enough capacity is available in the U.S. to produce the necessary components for vaccine manufacture.”
Daniele Piergentili, President of Croda Life Sciences, said: “We are grateful to the U.S. government for its support of Croda.
“The delivery technology based on lipid systems offers significant potential for the safe and efficient delivery of next generation vaccines and therapeutic drugs.
“As a result of this investment, Croda will be able to expand its capabilities to develop and manufacture ingredients in support of this important technology.
“This will help ensure that the U.S. is well prepared for future health emergencies and equipped to offer advanced treatments for some of the most prevalent illnesses in the world today.”
Nicole Kilgore, Deputy Joint Program Executive Officer (JPEO) for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Defense, said: “The U.S. government is pleased to be a part of these Industrial Base Expansion efforts to expand production of raw materials for mRNA vaccines.”