Swiss CDMO Giant CordenPharma Pumps $981M Into GLP-1 Manufacturing Expansion

CordenPharma announced a significant investment of 900 million euros ($981 million) over the next three years to enhance its manufacturing capabilities for GLP-1 peptides in Europe and the United States. This marks the largest financial commitment in the company's 18-year history, aimed at addressing the increasing global demand for GLP-1 products for diabetes and obesity. The investment aligns with CordenPharma's goal to achieve 1 billion euros ($1.08 billion) in sales by 2028, up from 880 million euros ($952 million) in sales last year.

As part of this expansion, CordenPharma will construct a new facility in an undisclosed European location, dedicated to the clinical and commercial production of GLP-1 products and peptides. In Boulder, Colorado, the company will further enhance its operations by building a new large-scale facility and boosting the capacity of its two existing plants, which serve clinical and commercial clients.

CordenPharma's first Boulder facility, acquired from Roche in 2011, focuses on developing and manufacturing peptide APIs. The second plant, acquired from Pfizer in 2017 during its Hospira unit divestment, produces highly potent APIs. These investments are expected to support multi-year contracts valued at 3 billion euros ($3.26 billion), with potential for additional growth, according to CordenPharma.

Michael Quirmbach, CEO of CordenPharma, said, “We are honored by the trust our customers have placed in us to deliver expert outsourcing for large multiyear contracts, and our team is proud to contribute decades of peptide manufacturing experience towards these transformative new medicines.”

In January of the previous year, CordenPharma announced a significant $1 billion agreement with an undisclosed client to facilitate a product launch from its Boulder facilities. Alongside this deal, the company disclosed plans to invest 200 million euros ($210 million) in expanding its operations worldwide.

In December 2021, CordenPharma revealed its acquisition of three European manufacturing sites from Vifor Pharma, though the financial details were not disclosed. This transaction was linked to CSL's $11.7 billion acquisition of Vifor. The facilities—two located in Switzerland and one in Lisbon, Portugal—expanded Corden's network to 11 sites across six countries, employing over 3,000 people. Fast forward to May 2022, and private equity firm Astorg purchased Corden from the International Chemical Investors Group (ICIG), a holding company based in Luxembourg. Bloomberg estimated the deal to be valued at $2.6 billion.