Hikal has inaugurated an advanced High Potency Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (HPAPI) Laboratory at its Integrated Innovation Centre in Pune, further strengthening its end-to-end CDMO capabilities and enhancing its ability to safely develop, test and deliver highly potent compounds for the global pharmaceutical industry.

Equipped with state-of-the-art isolators, the new cGMP-compliant HPAPI Laboratory is designed to meet Occupational Exposure Band 5 (OEB-5) requirements. The lab is purpose-built to support the development of complex oncology and specialty molecules, including components of Antibody Drug Conjugates (ADCs), Peptide Drug Conjugates (PDCs), and Proteolysis Targeting Chimeras (PROTACs).

“Our new HPAPI laboratory represents a critical step forward in expanding our capabilities and reinforcing our unwavering commitment to innovation, safety and customer excellence,” said Sameer Hiremath, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Hikal Ltd.

“With this new addition to our technology toolbox, we are well positioned to meet the growing demand for potent molecule development while maintaining the highest global standards of containment and compliance,” he added.

The HPAPI Lab complements Hikal’s existing validation lab, process safety lab, solid state lab, flow chemistry lab, instrumentation and synthesis laboratories, creating a truly integrated innovation ecosystem at the Pune site. This ecosystem supports the seamless transition of projects, from early-phase studies to commercial manufacturing, covering scales from milligrams to >100 Kg batch size in its pilot plant.

Headquartered in Mumbai, Hikal manufactures and supplies quality active ingredients, intermediates, and biocides to the global life sciences industry. The company operates five manufacturing facilities in India at Maharashtra (Taloja and Mahad), Gujarat (Panoli) and Bengaluru (Jigani) and a world-class Research & Technology Innovation centre at Pune.