Curia Expands Sterile Fill/Finish Site in UK

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Curia Global, a contract research, development, and manufacturing organization, announced plans on March 17, 2025 to expand its sterile fill/finish capabilities at its Glasgow, UK facility. The company additionally provided updates on an ongoing expansion project at its Albuquerque, NM, site.

The expansion of the sterile fill/finish facility in Glasgow will include the addition of an integrated, isolator-based vial filling line and lyophilizer that are suitable for a broad range of drug product. The expansion will include highly potent capabilities and will more than double the company’s current good manufacturing practice (GMP) batch size. The Glasgow site handles antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) and offers lyophilization development, complex formulation and development, and clinical manufacturing services. With the expansion, the Glasgow site will boost its offering of sterile injectable product development, from pre-formulation through to the clinical phases of development and commercial manufacturing (1).

“Our investment in Glasgow underscores Curia’s commitment to being an end-to-end partner,” said Philip Macnabb, CEO of Curia, in a company press release (1). “So much innovation exists in the early stages of clinical development, and Curia is eager to meet the growing demand for increased capacity for our clinical-stage clients.”

Batch sizes will be increased to up to 20,000 vials, and the new capacity will feature robotic, lossless filling technology. This robotic technology will be situated within an isolator, which will allow filling speeds that are five times faster than current capabilities, according to the press release (1). Meanwhile, the additional lyophilizer aims to provide more scalability for clinical-stage clients who are progressing toward commercialization. It also creates an opportunity for future small-volume commercial fills at the Glasgow site. The company assured that the facility will continue normal operations on client projects during the expansion.

The Glasgow expansion follows a $200 million investment that Curia has made in an ongoing, multi-year expansion project at its Albuquerque facility, for which the company broke ground in October 2022 (2). Expansion at the Albuquerque facility includes the addition of two isolated filling lines. This addition will add more than 70,000 square feet to the facility’s more-than-200,000-square-foot manufacturing space. The expansion will create significant capacity for Phase III clinical and commercial material.

Meanwhile, an aseptic filling line (VarioSys Flex Line, SKAN) suitable for small-scale biologics and non-potent small molecules is being installed at the Albuquerque site. This filling line will have capability to accommodate syringes, cartridges, and vials. The line is currently undergoing commissioning. Furthermore, a new high-speed vial line will begin commissioning in the third quarter of 2025. This new high-speed vial line includes two autoloaded freeze driers, automated vial inspection, and labeling/packaging for 2R to 30R vials.

“Increased demand for GLP-1 [glucagon-like peptide-1] agonists, new biologic drugs, coupled with on-going supply chain reviews by our customers make this an ideal time for this capacity In Albuquerque to come on-line,” Macnabb said in the release. “Curia is ideally suited to help our clients meet all of these challenges with our multiple US manufacturing facilities, supply chain expertise and readily available capacity.”

Curia’s global sterile fill/finish network includes clinical development and manufacturing capabilities in Camarillo and Thousand Oaks, Calif. The company also has commercial and clinical manufacturing capabilities in Burlington, Mass.

References

1. Curia. Curia Announces Expansions to Global Network of Sterile Fill-Finish Sites. Press Release. March 17, 2025.
2. Curia. Curia Celebrates Ground-breaking Ceremony in Albuquerque. Press Release. Oct. 27, 2022.