Neuland Laboratories is accelerating its peptide manufacturing expansion, as the first of 4 scheduled modules has commenced operations at its commercial peptide manufacturing site.

Significantly, with foundational infrastructure for the second module already in place, Neuland expects to begin work ahead of the original timeline once customer requirements are finalised—configuration, instrumentation and capacity are currently being defined in close collaboration with the customer whose projects will anchor the expanded capability.

The newly operational module one provides 7000L total reactor capacity, 750L of solid-phase peptide synthesis and 6250L liquid-phase peptide synthesis. This enables flexible customer programmes from small-scale to multikilogram quantities for complete peptide Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs)– including complex and long-chain peptides–as well as commercial scale production of crude peptides. Additionally, the SPPS and LPPS reactors are housed in different suites enabling parallel operation and are supported by 3 DAC columns [one 45 cm and two 60 cm] and 2 lyophilisers with 100 L and 200 L capacities.

Following the USD 30 million investment in module one, Neuland is aligning further investment for subsequent modules with new customer requirements. Module 2 is planned to provide an overall reactor capacity of up to 18,000 L, comprising 3 5,000 L LPPS reactors, as well as either a 1,000 L or 2,000 L SPPS reactor, and smaller reactors of up to the 1,000 L scale. This flexible configuration will allow Neuland to support a broad range of peptide programmes and production scales.

The range of partner indications is also broadening beyond obesity and metabolic disease, with oncology emerging as a particularly active area of early-stage development. As peptide pipelines expand, a growing number of biotech companies are struggling to access capable outsourced development and commercial manufacturing capacity.

Looking to the medium term, Neuland is already exploring options to meet future demand.

Saharsh Davuluri, CEO and MD, Neuland, said, “Our goal is to ensure we have the capacity to meet customer demand not just over the next 24 months, but over the next decade, as we deepen our strategic partnerships with leading pharma and biotech companies.

Module one is supported by a team of nearly 212 peptide experts and this latest news follows on from an impressive few years for the CDMO. Revenues rose by 116 percent in its most recent quarterly results, driven chiefly by increased commercial contracts, as well as a growing number of clinical projects.