Cambrex looks to fill ‘onshore’ API manufacturing demand with $50M expansion in Iowa

With the COVID-19 pandemic nearing its second year in the U.S., lawmakers have banged the drum on boosting “onshore” production of key pharmaceuticals and ingredients to ensure supply-side security. Now, a New Jersey-based contract manufacturer is dropping more money into its Iowa site to support the effort. 

Cambrex will invest $50 million to add four active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) facilities at its Charles City, Iowa small-molecule drug site and expand capacity by 30%, the company said Tuesday. 

The new facilities—three of which will handle “large-scale” manufacturing, with the fourth dedicated to “mid-scale” production—are set to go online in early 2022, Cambrex said in a release. In total, the Charles City site will eventually employ 400 workers. 

The $50 million down payment is the sixth investment round Cambrex has made in Charles City in the last eight years, the company said, and it continues the CDMO’s play at offering stateside API production to drugmakers looking for a “reliable” supply chain. 

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