The event saw notable attendees like Adrian Gillespie, chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, and key Piramal representatives including PPL chairperson Nandini Piramal, Piramal Pharma Solutions CEO Peter DeYoung, COO Herve Berdou, and Francois Houbart, managing director and Grangemouth site head.

Piramal Pharma Solutions operates globally in ADC development and manufacturing, with hundreds of payloads developed and more than a thousand ADC batches manufactured. This expansion further enhances the site’s capacity by approximately 70 to 80%, enabling scale-up of commercial ADC manufacturing batches.

The capacity expansion, which has been completed for commercialisation within this fiscal year, features two new ADC manufacturing suites specifically designed to complement the existing three. The £45 million investment was financed by a combination of Scottish Enterprise government grant, bank loan, customer co-investment, and internal accruals.

The primary beneficiaries of the expansion are Piramal’s customer base and the patients they serve, who are now further supported by the site’s enhanced ability to deliver the full life cycle of ADC development and manufacturing. This includes ADCelerate, the company’s branded solution for the rapid early-stage development of ADC drugs.

The site expansion also includes a dedicated customer experience centre for clients who are visiting the site during development and/or manufacturing activities, along with new quality control laboratories, warehousing, office space, and supporting utilities.

The building, which utilised modular construction technology to expedite its completion, has been designed to accommodate further expansion. Potential future enhancements may include a new sterile fill/finish suite dedicated to ADCs and two additional large-scale manufacturing suites capable of handling increased batch sizes.

Mr DeYoung stated: “The global ADC market is growing strongly and so is the pipeline at Grangemouth, necessitating additional capacity to meet customer demand.

“This expansion allows us to cater to further growth and take on future projects. We see the market gravitating towards large and commercial scale manufacturing, which the new facility is well equipped to address.

“We’ve now doubled our ADC production capacity, strengthening our ability to service customers throughout the entire drug lifecycle.”

Mr Gillespie said: “Today’s opening marks the completion of Piramal’s welcome £45 million investment into Scotland’s life sciences sector, creating and safeguarding high-quality jobs.

“We’re pleased that the company chose Scotland as the ideal location for its pioneering work on ADCs – a new and growing area of medical innovation. We look forward to continuing and deepening our relationship with Piramal.”

Wellbeing Economy Secretary Neil Gray said: “This £45m investment in pharmaceutical innovation helps build on Scotland’s strengths in health and life sciences, creating new jobs and opportunities as part of a fair and growing wellbeing economy. It also augments Grangemouth’s heritage as a critical manufacturing hub for Scotland.”

Secretary Gray added: “Scotland’s National Innovation Strategy sets out our vision for becoming one of the most innovative small nations in the world over the next decade, working with partners to grow world leading excellence in our priority areas.”