FLAMMA to invest $200M over the next 3 years
Chignolo D’Isola, Bergamo, Italy – March 20, 2023 – The Flamma Group (“Flamma”), a global, fully integrated company producing and commercializing small molecule Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) for the life science industry as well as a preeminent Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) of New Chemical Entities (NCEs) and late stage intermediates for the Innovator Companies, announced the commitment to invest $200M over the next three years. This significant investment will propel Flamma forward as it continues to respond to market demands that require future growth and opportunity.
Flamma will use the investments for the following projects:
- Revamping and improvement of the Bulciago, Italy site that was acquired in 2022.
- Completion of a new GMP facility at its Dalian, China location. Flamma Honkai will increase from 200 m3 of small molecule API/NCE capacity to initially 400 m3 and then ultimately to 800 m3.
- The addition of new
technologies across its sites in Italy, China and the USA.
- Including growing the existing flow chemistry capabilities at Flamma Italy
- Build out of an API clean room at Flamma USA
- Additional improvements to the HPAPI capabilities at Flamma USA
- Additional
improvements will be made at Flamma’s two other Italian facilities, Chignolo
and Isso. These site improvements include upgrades to the existing analytical
services offered as well as the installation of new equipment, including
reactors, filter dryers, distillation
units. To harness the power of renewable
energy, Flamma will be adding
solar panels as well.
In consideration of the current geo-political environment, Flamma is proactively securing customers supply chains by having the ability to transfer projects from China (Flamma Honkai) to Italy (specifically its Bulciago site). Flamma offers the market a unique value proposition where one can still work in China but also have the security to also work simultaneously in Italy. Alternatively, work can be done in China but can be internally transferred to Italy if unforeseen events transpire giving customers the piece of mind that cannot be afforded by other CDMOs. Flamma believes that having a supply chain that is protected is extremely important. In addition, the Chinese domestic market will grow dramatically in the coming years and Flamma Honkai’s facilities in China can be the right choice for developing and producing APIs in China for its domestic market.
Dr. Gianpaolo Negrisoli, Chief Executive Officer of Flamma, noted, “Flamma will continue to reinvest in itself to provide further flexibility between all of our sites.”
Flamma Bulciago has reactor capacities up to 25,000 L with an average reactor size of 12,000 L. This GMP site is an attractive option for those companies looking for additional capacities in Europe. The combination of Bulciago along with Chignolo and Isso provides Flamma with 900 m3 of small molecule manufacturing capacity in Italy.
Flamma has built a network that now consists of sites located in Europe, North America and China. The continued development of Flamma USA in near Philadelphia provides innovator companies the flexibility to begin early stage small molecule projects within the USA and then consider using the rest of the Flamma Group for its needs as the project grows. Since Flamma can often make the necessary RSMs, the security of supply is strengthened by Flamma’s ability to provide internal backup to manufacturing.
“Our future is very bright. We are aware of customer sensitivity about their supply chain. Years of work and huge investments have been placed into their molecules. This cannot be jeopardized by looking for the lowest price or underestimating the risks of a weak supply chain. We have manufacturing facilities with different characteristics to meet customer needs. This includes capacity and technologies along with a very skilled and committed team that works hard to be a long term partner”, concludes Negrisoli.
Executive Director of Global Business Fabrice Cornille, Ph.D. presented this news at the DCAT 2023 Member Company Announcement Forum on March 20, 2023.
Download the pdf of the press release here
