Spray drying specialist and capsule filling service provider Micro-Sphere is investing CHF21 million (EUR19 million) into expanding its GMP manufacturing capabilities at its facility in Switzerland.

The investment, which is in response to increased market for spray drying and capsule filling for dry powder inhalers, will provide the contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) with greater capacity to handle larger quantities of pharmaceutical powders and commercial volumes of finished dosage forms.

The expanded facility, which will see the GMP production area triple in size, will be home to some of the world’s leading spray drying and capsule filling technologies, which will be operational by Q4 2017.

Micro-Sphere founder and president of the Board, Dr. Michele Müller, said: "Both GMP spray drying as a particle engineering technique and low dose capsule filling are becoming increasingly popular across the market and at present there are very few CDMOs offering this level of capability, especially with our level of niche expertise.

"From our expanded facility, we will continue to produce both clinical and commercial products, with a particular specialism in dry powder inhalers. We look forward to unveiling the technologies we will be adding to our facility in the coming months and what I can promise is it will be some of the finest equipment in the world."

From its GMP, SwissMedic and FDA approved facility near Lugano, Ticino, Micro-Sphere’s expert team supports customers in the US, Europe, New Zealand and Asia with spray drying capabilities for the development and manufacture of both potent and non-potent pharmaceutical products, with a particular focus on inhalable dosage forms.