Veranova is upgrading its bioconjugation firepower in Massachusetts as Enzene soups up a soon-to-debut biologics factory in New Jersey.
Amid a spate of high-profile investments in U.S. pharmaceutical production, two contract manufacturers are getting in on the action with an emphasis on biologic drugs.First, active pharmaceutical ingredient specialist Veranova is plugging roughly $20 million more into its campus in Devens, Massachusetts, to establish new bioconjugation development and production capacity at the site.The move—which builds upon a related $30 million investment in Devens announced last summer—is expected to bolster Veranova’s offerings for clients working on antibody-drug conjugates and other bioconjugate medicines, according to a June 16 press release.The latest project, which brings Veranova’s total investment in the Devens campus to more than $50 million, is expected to create 70 new jobs, the company said. The expanded capacity is planned to come online next June, Veranova added.The plant upgrade will cover the build-out and installation of new process and analytical development laboratories, clean room space, and the equipment and instrumentation needed for drug development and production. Together, those new amenities will work to support kilogram-scale manufacturing of both potent and non-potent bioconjugates, Veranova explained. Meanwhile, heading southwest, CDMO Enzene—which itself is a unit of India’s Alkem Laboratories—is expanding an up-and-coming biologics plant in Hopewell, New Jersey, just months before the plant is expected to open for business.Enzene on Monday telegraphed plans to incorporate another 26,000 square feet of workspace at the site, adding on to the 54,000 square feet of space the manufacturer had previously planned to occupy. The new real estate will be used to set up additional drug substance manufacturing suites, laboratories, storage, dispensing and warehouse space, Enzene said in a press release.“We will officially open our site later this year but are already producing non-GMP batches and seeing strong demand from U.S.-based small- and medium-sized innovators as we look ahead to GMP readiness,” Norm Stoffregen, senior vice president and site head at Enzene’s Hopewell campus, said in a statement.Once open, the site will be equipped to handle conventional fed-batch drug substance manufacturing as well as continuous manufacturing tech.The facility will mark Enzene’s first in the U.S. once complete. The company also operates a corporate office, a manufacturing plant and an R&D facility in India, according to its website. The expansion projects from Enzene and Veranova follow a parade of U.S. investment announcements from large drugmakers looking to circumvent the potential impact of pharmaceutical-specific import tariffs under President Donald Trump.Most recently, Belgium’s UCB last week said it would chart a "major" investment to build a new biologics production facility in the U.S. The announcement came after similar pledges from the likes of Johnson & Johnson, Roche, Eli Lilly and Novartis.