US-based Snapdragon Chemistry, a Cambrex company, has expanded its active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) facility in Waltham, Massachusetts, strengthening its capabilities in the development and manufacturing of peptide therapies.  

The expansion adds a new GMP manufacturing suite, increasing the facility’s footprint by 20 percent. The suite includes an ISO-7 cleanroom for preparative HPLC chromatography and lyophilization, cold storage for raw materials, and a product storage suite. With this investment, Snapdragon can now support peptide projects from development to GMP manufacturing using solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS), liquid-phase peptide synthesis (LPPS), or hybrid approaches.

Dr. Eric Fang, General Manager at Snapdragon Chemistry, explained: "We designed this facility with a three-step strategy in mind for the development of peptide drug candidates. We start with automated SPPS technology for proof-of-concept. In parallel, we optimize the process using LPPS technology to accelerate development and reduce manufacturing cost. We can then transfer the process to our large manufacturing facilities, such as Charles City, Iowa, to produce materials in traditional large batch reactors, significantly reducing the cost of those drugs."  

Snapdragon's LPPS technology uses traditional API batch reactors and continuous flow, obviating the dependency on specialised, solid-phase reactors. This new LPPS technology materially reduces solvent demand and the need for excess reagents compared to standard solid-state peptide synthesis processes.

Dr. Matt Bio, Chief Scientific Officer, Cambrex, added, "SPPS certainly has its place. We use it in early development to get to the clinic and to proof-of-concept quickly, but it's not a scalable solution if you want to supply a huge patient population. We designed the LPPS process so that we can leverage all 1.4 million Liters of capacity within Cambrex to deliver peptide therapies."

Cambrex continues to invest in research and development across complex synthetic modalities, including further innovation for peptide manufacturing, as well as new research on the application of artificial intelligence for the optimization of oligonucleotide processes.

A leading global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), Cambrex provides drug substance development and manufacturing across the entire drug lifecycle, as well as comprehensive analytical and IND enabling services. It offers a range of specialised drug substance technologies and capabilities, including continuous flow, controlled substances, solid-state science, material characterization, and highly potent APIs. 

Headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, Snapdragon Chemistry specialises in active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) batch and continuous flow process development, utilising state-of-the-art automation technology and proprietary equipment to solve complex process and analytical development challenges.