Pharmaceutical Outsourcing

Charles River Laboratories has brought a fully automated production suite for Endosafe bacterial endotoxin testing cartridges into full operation, increasing manufacturing capacity and adding inspection and digital-traceability functions. The Endosafe Cartridge Technology Automated Manufacturing Suite reached full operational capacity in the third quarter of 2026, Charles River said. The company said the system was fully operational in July.

Hovione Holding AG has appointed Stefan Doboczky as chief executive officer, effective April 1, 2027, moving the company’s current board chairman into its top operating role. Doboczky has served as chairman of the family-owned pharmaceutical technology and services group since 2024. He will step down as chairman when he becomes chief executive, following a succession process conducted by Hovione’s board of directors.

AtomVie Global Radiopharma has opened a new radiopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Hamilton, Ontario, following an investment of more than $160 million in a site the company says will expand production capacity by more than tenfold. The 72,300-square-foot facility at 10 Aeropark Boulevard is designed to support radiopharmaceutical development and manufacturing from early-stage programs through commercial production.

Onyx Scientific will invest more than £1.5 million, or about $2 million, to expand commercial active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing capacity at its Sunderland, United Kingdom, facility. The small-molecule contract development and manufacturing organization plans to add four good manufacturing practice production suites, increasing the site’s total from six to 10. The added suites are expected to come online in the first quarter of 2027.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health has selected five teams for a program intended to develop automated, distributed manufacturing systems for individualized RNA-based genetic medicines, with up to $125 million available for research and development. The Genetic Medicines and Individualized Manufacturing for Everyone, or GIVE, program seeks to replace centralized production models with technology that could manufacture genetic medicines closer to patients.

Northway Biotech has opened a $72 million cell-therapy and personalized-medicine contract development and manufacturing facility in Vilnius, Lithuania, expanding its capacity to develop and produce advanced therapies. The 3,500-square-meter facility, part of the company’s BIO CITY III development, is the first dedicated center of its kind in the Baltic States, according to Northway.

Fortrea Holdings has agreed to acquire the Early Phase Services division of Worldwide Clinical Trials in an all-cash transaction valued at about $45 million, adding a Texas clinical pharmacology unit, bioanalytical laboratory and biospecimen storage operation to its early-development network.

Lifecore Biomedical has signed an agreement with an undisclosed global pharmaceutical company to transfer manufacturing of a currently marketed injectable drug product, adding what the company expects could become one of its largest commercial contracts. Under the agreement, Lifecore will perform technical-transfer services to prepare for commercial production of the drug product. The company expects the program to begin contributing commercial revenue in 2028.

Samsung Biologics has published the formal prospectus for its planned acquisition of PolyPeptide Group AG, offering about $55.70 in cash per share in a transaction that values the Swiss peptide manufacturer’s equity at approximately $1.83 billion. The offer is being made through Samsung Peptide AG, a direct Swiss subsidiary of Samsung Biologics. It follows Samsung Biologics’ July 20 pre-announcement of an agreement to pursue the all-cash public tender offer.

Andelyn Biosciences has been selected by Genprex Inc. to support manufacturing scale-up for an adeno-associated virus-based gene therapy program being developed for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Under the agreement, Andelyn will help transition Genprex’s candidate from research-stage manufacturing through process optimization, scale-up and manufacturing activities intended to support investigational new drug-enabling studies and future clinical trials.