Inhalation CDMO Vectura has announced the addition of a new dry powder inhaler filling and assembly line at its facility in Chippenham, UK that will increase the company’s DPI manufacturing capability to up to 1 million devices per year. The expansion is scheduled to be complete in the second quarter of 2021.
The new semi-automatic line will be used for Vectura’s open inhale close (OIC) DPI and the lever-operated multi-dose inhaler (LOMI), which is the device in Hikma’s generic version of Advair that was approved by the FDA in December 2020. The new line includes a capsule filler, a capsule blister packaging machine, and a Mikron semi-automated device assembly machine.
Vectura Chief Commercial Officer Mark Bridgewater said, “Vectura has extensive specialist knowledge and experience in the development of dry powder inhalers, and this investment allows us to fully integrate these disciplines under one roof for pre-clinical, clinical and commercial programs. The investment in new equipment will complement existing blister-based platform capabilities to offer customers greater flexibility, alongside our other inhalation delivery platforms, to provide patients with new inhaled therapies.”
Read the Vectura press release.
