Lubrizol to invest US$60 mn in life sciences business

US chemicals firm Lubrizol Corporation says its LifeSciences business will invest in its key capabilities through a variety of planned expansions. During this latest phase, a US$60 million investment will focus on new product solutions, capacity expansion and additional cGMP manufacturing. These investments will strengthen the excipients, polymers, drug formulation and manufacturing, and medical device contract manufacturing capabilities at Lubrizol LifeSciences' global facilities.

Commercial drug product manufacturing will be added at the company's Particle Sciences facility in Bethlehem, PA. Leveraging the company's knowledge in formulations and production, the facility will be adjacent to the existing development and clinical trial manufacturing site, offering customers a seamless flow from development through manufacturing. This new space, which is expected to be operational in the fourth quarter of 2017, will accommodate both sterile and non-sterile products, highly potent compounds, and organic solvent processing.

Additionally, LifeSciences is investing to expand its global facilities for excipients, polymers and contract manufacturing, with a focus on quality and efficiency. This capital investment will impact multiple sites to increase in-house engineering capacity across the LifeSciences portfolio of medical and pharmaceutical applications. This includes new investments in design, manufacturing and sterilisation technologies for the production of interventional catheters and long-term implantable devices, an area of strategic importance to the medical device segment.

"We have significantly enhanced our capabilities through the combination of strong polymer technology, application know-how and world-class manufacturing," states Deb Langer, vice president, Lubrizol Personal Home and Health Care. "As healthcare companies look for total solution providers, we continue to invest in the right areas to provide valuable offerings where our customers are experiencing the most growth."

Lubrizol, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is headquartered in Ohio, and owns and operates manufacturing facilities in 17 countries, as well as sales and technical offices around the world. Founded in 1928, Lubrizol has approximately 8,300 employees worldwide. Revenues for 2016 were US$6.5 billion.