CordenPharma to Expand Annual Sterile Injectable Capacity to 500 Million Units in Italy

CordenPharma has announced a multi-year €80 million investment to expand sterile injectable manufacturing capacity at its FDA- and EMA-approved Caponago (Milan), Italy, site.

Image: CordenPharma

The program includes the €13 million acquisition of an 11,000 m² commercial building and 26,000 m² of adjacent land, completed on 28 July 2026. The acquisition increases the site footprint by more than 50% and provides space for additional aseptic fill & finish capacity.

The new facility can accommodate a minimum of four aseptic fill & finish lines, four visual inspection lines and four additional packaging lines. It is designed to support pre-filled syringes, liquid or lyophilized vials, cartridges and auto-injectors, with options for customer-owned lines, large-scale lyophilization and auto-injector assembly.

CordenPharma said customers will also have access to injectable solutions integrated with LNP manufacturing capabilities at the same Caponago campus.

Separately, the company is expanding an existing operational area at the site, including the addition of two aseptic fill & finish isolator lines:

• A clinical and small-scale commercial combo line from Bausch & Ströbel for Pre-Filled Syringes (PFS), vials, and cartridges.
• A high-speed PFS & cartridge line from Syntegon, capable of producing >500,000 units per day.
• Expansion of the automatic secondary packaging area for PFS, vials, and ampoules.
• A doubling of analytical capacity to support growing project pipelines.

Completion of the new isolator lines is targeted for mid-2027 and 2028.

With the combined investments, CordenPharma projects total capacity at the Caponago site of up to 500 million sterile injectable units per year. The company said the expanded capacity will support peptide, LNP, small molecule, biologic and oligonucleotide-based injectable products from early-phase projects through large-scale commercial manufacturing.

Dr. Michael Quirmbach, President & CEO of CordenPharma Group, commented: “The support of our shareholders, Astorg, underscores our commitment to advancing sterile injectable manufacturing at CordenPharma Caponago. This strategic investment strengthens our leadership in the manufacture of drug products using complex modalities and enhances our end-to-end supply capabilities to meet rising global demand for injectable outsourcing, ultimately enabling partners to bring vital drug products in key therapeutic areas to patients more efficiently.”

About CordenPharma

CordenPharma is a CDMO supporting and partnering with biotech and pharma innovators of complex modalities in the advancement of their drug development lifecycle. Harnessing the collective expertise of the teams across its globally integrated facility network, CordenPharma provides bespoke outsourcing services spanning the complete supply chain, from early clinical-phase development to commercialization.

With scientific expertise and partnership at its core, CordenPharma provides customers with high-value, end-to-end services with a strategic focus on Peptides, Small Molecules (both Highly Potent and Regular Potency), customized Lipid Excipients, Lipid NanoParticles (LNPs), sterile Injectables, and Oligonucleotides.

The CordenPharma Group is comprised of 13 facilities across Europe, North America and Asia with more than 3,500 employees. In the 2025 financial year, the organization generated sales of €960 million. In 2022, CordenPharma was acquired by Astorg – a leading Pan-European private equity firm with deep expertise in the healthcare sector – to accelerate its development and further strengthen its leadership in the CDMO space.

Source: CordenPharma