Karen Flynn, Chief Commercial Officer, Catalent, highlighted a $1.3-billion global expansion plan, which included the $1-billion acquisition of Bettera, a manufacturer of consumer healthcare products, at the DCAT Member Company Announcement Forum held March 21, 2022 at DCAT Week 2022.  She also provided updates on expansions in biologics and investments across the company’s clinical supply network.

Integration of $1-Billion Acquisition of Bettera. Catalent closed on its acquisition of Bettera, a Plano, Texas-headquartered manufacturer of gummies, soft chews, and lozenges for the nutritional supplement market, in October 2021. The acquisition added four new dietary supplement manufacturing sites to Catalent’s existing 13-site consumer health network. Catalent gained manufacturing sites for gummies (South San Francisco, California, and Greendale, Indiana), soft chews (Manassa, Virginia) and lozenges (Manassa, Virginia, and Hillside, New Jersey). She explained that the acquisition provided additional expertise in innovative dose technologies, which are important to meet consumer demand for vitamins & supplements, especially products that deliver enjoyable experiences of taste, texture, and swallowability.

Biologics expansions. In biologics, Catalent is adding new biologics drug-substance capacity in Italy and three additional viral vector manufacturing suites in the US. The company is investing $100 million to add new biomanufacturing capacity at its site in Anagni, Italy, with the installation of two 2,000-liter single-use bioreactors, operational for customer projects in 2023. The expansion also creates infrastructure required for a further six 2,000-liter single-use bioreactors.

The company is also investing $230 million to add three suites and associated support facilities to expand commercial viral vector manufacturing at Harmans/BWI, Maryland, campus. Upon estimated completion at the end of 2022, Harmans/BWI campus will have 18 GMP suites.

Expansions in clinical supply network. Catalent also recently added two new clinical supply facilities in Japan and the US and is adding new capabilities and capacities at three clinical supply sites in the US, China, and Germany. In October 2021, it opened a new clinical supply facility at a 6,000-square-meter site in Shiga, Japan, and a new 4,000-square-foot facility in San Diego, California, to provide end-to-end services, including supply management, primary and secondary packaging and labeling, storage, distribution, returns and destruction.

Catalent is also increasing cold-chain packaging capabilities at its Philadelphia facility to support increased demand for the distribution of biologic drugs and advanced cell and gene therapies. The 200,000 square-foot Philadelphia facility is the largest site in Catalent’s global clinical supply network and the company’s North American Center of Excellence for clinical supply packaging.

Catalent is also expanding its Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone (FTZ) facility in Shanghai, China, to increase capacity for temperature-controlled storage and distribution of clinical supplies, as well as additional secondary packaging capabilities. The facility will be expanded by approximately 30,000 square feet, which will double the clinical storage capacity and allow the installation of additional refrigerated (between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius) and deep-frozen (between minus 70 and minus 90 degrees Celsius) storage. The expansion and commissioning are expected to be completed by mid-2022.

The company is also investing in a new purpose-built storage facility in a 56,200-square-foot expansion at its site in Schorndorf, Germany, which is expected to be completed by mid-2023. Construction is to begin by September 2022.