Upperton Pharma Solutions (Upperton), a UK-based specialist contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO), has announced a circa. £15m investment into the design and build of a 50,000 sq ft facility in Nottingham.

The new facilities will allow a significant increase in research and development laboratory space and a 10-fold increase in GMP manufacturing space. The site is expected to create 100 job opportunities over the next few years and will strengthen the East Midlands’ reputation for accommodating UK scientific centres of excellence

Scheduled to be completed during the fourth quarter of 2023, the increased capacity will enable Upperton to continue to meet the growing demand for its oral, nasal and pulmonary dosage form development and GMP manufacturing services, as well as expand its offering to support larger scale, later stage development.

The space will be designed to handle highly potent molecules and controlled drugs, reflecting the increasing number of these molecule types being developed in the industry.

Upperton uses its expertise to develop a wide range of non-sterile, finished dosage formats for its clients. Alongside dosage form development, the company also specialises in spray drying, a particle engineering technology that can be used to ensure targeted delivery of drugs to the lungs and nasal cavity, or to provide solutions to pharma clients who have challenges with poorly soluble molecules.

Nikki Whitfield, CEO of Upperton, said: “We are excited to be building new formulation development and analytical laboratories alongside the GMP facility to ensure our operations and capabilities remain state of the art. The new facilities will enable us to increase our current development and manufacturing capacity as well as expand our solid dose and spray drying offerings to address the growing needs of our customers.”

The new facilities will also allow Upperton to support existing and new clients further in their product development journey, ensuring a consistent and streamlined pathway to approval.

Nikki adds: “We enjoy close relationships with our clients and want to maintain the scientific and manufacturing support provided in the early stages of their product development through to late stage and commercial.”