Simtra BioPharma Solutions is investing over $250 million to expand its sterile filling and finishing facility in Indiana, USA. Image credit: Paul reverve/Shutterstock.com.
The project is designed to improve the site’s capacity to produce sterile fill/finish injections and freeze-drying. Image credit: Corona Borealis Studio/Shutterstock.com.
The area of the expansion site is approximately 13,935 m2. Image credit: New Africa/Shutterstock.com.
Simtra BioPharma Solutions (Simtra) will expand its manufacturing campus in Bloomington, Indiana with an aseptic manufacturing and storage facility.
The project will improve the site’s capacity to manufacture sterile fill/finish injections and freeze-dry them and will also support their clinical-scale production.
The company will invest more than $250 million in the expansion. The project is supported by local agencies, including the Bloomington Economic Development Corporation (BEDC) and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC).
The groundbreaking ceremony for the project took place in June 2024. As part of the expansion, a new clinical line will be added, which is scheduled to begin integrating new products in 2025.
The development will provide the Bloomington campus with the necessary infrastructure to manage projects in their early stages of development.
The facility is expected to meet Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards by the end of 2026.
Once completed, the site is expected to create over 130 new jobs in the Bloomington area.
Location of the Simtra production campus
The expansion will take place within Simtra’s existing main campus at 927 South Curry Pike in Monroe County, Bloomington.
The new building will become a new focal point of the Bloomington site due to its strategic location on a prominent street near the main entrance, improving the site’s visibility and accessibility.
Details of Simtra BioPharma Solutions’ Bloomington site expansion
The site will be expanded to include a new state-of-the-art building (Building H) with an area of 150,000 ft² (13,935 m²).
The facility will be equipped with three additional filling lines, including two automated Bausch and Strobel high-speed 600 units/min isolator filling lines for prefilled syringes and one IMA high-speed 400 units/min isolator vial line, complemented by three 30 m² LYOMAX 30 freeze dryers with automated loading and unloading systems.
The production facilities are housed on the ground floor, which has a gross floor area of 7,000 m². The upper floor houses laboratories and offices.
Each process suite in the new building will be equipped with its own formulation and mixing rooms.
In addition, the expansion will introduce a dedicated clinical line to support the company’s growing development and clinical business. The line will leverage the facility’s existing infrastructure, optimizing resource utilization.
Details about the existing campus in Bloomington
The 600,000-square-foot Bloomington campus serves as a sterile contract manufacturer specializing in the aseptic formulation of prefilled syringes, liquid and freeze-dried vials.
It houses several research and development (R&D) scientists and a center of excellence for freeze-drying, facilitating formulation, development and rapid technology transfer.
Financing details
The Monroe County Council approved a nearly $10.4 million tax abatement for the expansion project in March 2024.
Contractors involved
JacobsWyper Architects is responsible for the architectural design of the facility, while FA Wilhelm Construction is responsible for the construction of the facility.
Other companies involved in the project include Counterpoint Development, a construction management company, Kimley-Horn, a planning and design consulting firm, and Integrated Project Services (IPS), a project management company for the pharmaceutical industry.
Marketing commentary on Simtra Biopharma Solutions
Simtra Biopharma Solutions is an independent, end-to-end contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) based in the United States, providing a range of services to its customers from clinical development to commercial fill/finish.
Global investment firms Advent International and Warburg Pincus acquired Baxter International’s BioPharma Solutions (BPS) business in October 2023. Following the acquisition, the company was renamed Simtra BioPharma Solutions.
Simtra’s areas of expertise include the production of injectables, optimization of freeze-drying processes, handling of cytotoxic and highly potent compounds, and the development and manufacturing of biologics, small molecules and diluents for reconstitution.
Simtra employs around 1,700 people and operates production facilities in Bloomington, Indiana, USA, and Halle/Westfalen, Germany. The company’s customer base extends across more than 120 countries worldwide.
In addition to its investment in the Bloomington site, Simtra also invested $100 million in 2021 to build a new building at its Halle/Westfalen site.
