Canary Wharf Group and Kadans Science Partner have submitted a detailed planning application for a 23-storey, 76,500 m2 tower. They said that this would be Europe’s largest and most technologically advanced life sciences facility, as well as a first of its kind vertical campus.

The site is on an undeveloped 3.5-hectare site at the North Quay on Canary Wharf in the Docklands area of London. It will be able to deliver 325,000 m² of laboratory and affiliated space, with the ability to provide chemistry and high containment facilities. Other features will include:

Bachem has signed a further work order with an unnamed customer for large volumes of peptides for a minimum total of CHF 1 billion from 2025 to 2029. This follows two previous large-volume contracts announced in September worth CHF 175 million in 2023-4. No further details will be disclosed.

Clariant is to invest CHF 80 million to expand its Care Chemicals facility at Daya Bay in Huizhou, China, by the end of 2024. This will both add capacity for existing products and introduce new products in the pharmaceutical, personal care, home care and industrial sector.

Daya Bay, which has obtained the drug GMP certificate, is the first API site in China certified to produce polyethylene glycol Polyglykol 3350. More generally, it will become new global hub for Clariant’s healthcare business support.

Almac Sciences has completed the first stage of its GMP API facility expansion at its headquarters site in Craigavon, Northern Ireland. This has seen two 1,000 L glass-lined reactors added with associated filtration and drying equipment allowing the manufacture of 50-100 kg batch API output. It complements the R&D technology centre opened in 2021 for the biocatalysis, flow chemistry and peptides businesses.

Quotient Sciences held an official ribbon-cutting event to celebrate the opening of its new, £6 million drug substance manufacturing facility in Alnwick, UK, on 9 December. Among those present were Sharon Todd, CEO of the Society of Chemical Industry, and Quotient’s SVP and head of candidate development, Paul Ryan.

Lonza has started up the mid-scale manufacturing assets at its API facility in Nansha in China’s Guangdong province. The site is fully integrated within Lonza’s global small molecules manufacturing network and this expansion has increased employee numbers there by 70 to around 330.

CDMO Cambrex has agreed to buy Snapdragon Chemistry, a US-based provider of chemical process development services to the biopharma sector. Terms were not disclosed. This came two months after regulatory approval was denied to Asymchem Laboratories’ acquisition of Snapdragon.