US global contract development and manufacturing organisation Cambrex has announced the expansion of its Irish environmentally-controlled stability storage business, Q1 Scientific, which has clients in the pharmaceutical, medical device and life sciences industries.
Q1 will open a 20,000 sq ft cGMP facility in Belgium, and extend its existing facility in Waterford by 10,000 sq ft, with construction work to be completed in the first half of 2023. The firm was founded in the city by Louise Grubb in 2013 and was purchased by Cambrex in June.
Q1's state-of-the-art, temperature-controlled and monitored facility in Belgium will be located in Liege, 50 miles from Brussels, and will have 35,000 storage spaces for all key ICH climatic zones, including long-term, intermediate and accelerated stability trials.
“We are delighted to expand the Q1 Scientific business into Belgium, where we will be able to serve pharmaceutical companies across Germany, France, and the Netherlands," said Tom Loewald, CEO of Cambrex.
"Simultaneously, we will continue to expand our Waterford facility to meet the demand within the Irish market."
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The decision to extend the Waterford facility was made after the site doubled in size over the past two years. Cambrex said it would continue to expand capacity across North America and Europe to meet demand for outsourced drug development and manufacturing services.
“With Cambrex’s scientific expertise and scale, we are able to accelerate our growth plans and launch a second site in 2023,” added Stephen Delaney, managing director of Q1 Scientific.
“Operating two sites will be a great benefit to our European customers, who can now expect even faster turnaround times for the return of samples. Meanwhile, we will also be able to provide greater temperature-controlled transport options in mainland Europe.”
Cambrex employs 2,300 people between North America and Europe and offers a range of specialised drug substance technologies and capabilities, including continuous flow, controlled substances, solid-state science, material characterisation, stability storage, and highly potent APIs.
The latest available accounts for Q1 Scientific Ltd show the company made a profit of €1.6m and employed eight people in 2020.
Photo: Stephen Delaney (right) at the new Belgium site.
