Catalent marking first phase of $350M expansion in Bloomington
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowNew Jersey-based Catalent Inc. (NYSE: CTLT) is preparing to open the first piece of a major expansion at its Bloomington operation. The contract development manufacturing organization, which focuses on the biopharmaceutical industry, announced plans in April to invest $350 million in the facility and create 1,000 jobs. While the company is not making any physical additions to the 1 million-square-foot facility, the expansion is designed to grow its biologics drug substance and drug product manufacturing capabilities.
Catalent Bloomington General Manager Andrew Espejo discussed the expansion with Business of Health Reporter Kylie Veleta.
“We’ll be building out more capacity for the capabilities we currently have on-site,” said Andrew Espejo, general manager at Catalent Bloomington. “This will all serve to grow the demand that the industry has for biologics development and for manufacturing.”
Since acquiring the site from Cook Pharmica in a $950 million deal in 2017, Catalent has pumped some $500 million into the facility and added hundreds of the jobs. Recently, the facility has produced the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines.
The first phase of the new expansion includes two new bioreactors, new quality control laboratories, and complex packaging space with additional high-speed, automated cartoning and auto-injector device assembly capabilities.
Additional phases of the expansion include growing the facility’s drug product fill/finish capacity with new syringe filling lines.
Espejo says one of the main challenges of the expansion is finding the talent needed to fill the new jobs, though he says the company is making progress.
“We have a great talent acquisition team, both here at the site and our corporate headquarters,” he said. “We also do a lot of work with universities to bring co-ops and interns in our hire-to-develop programs to grow that talent within the four walls of Catalent. It is a challenge at times, but we’re seeing very good progress and we continue to work hard to attract that great talent to this area.”
The entire expansion is set to be complete in 2024.