Albemarle (Baton Rouge, La.; www.albemarle.com) Fine Chemistry Services (FCS; www.albcustom.com), a leading U.S. domestic supplier of regulatory starting materials (RSMs), intermediates, and high-value active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to the pharmaceutical industry, today announced the expansion of its operations at its Tyrone, Pennsylvania custom manufacturing facility, with the construction of a new, state-of-the-art operations building.
The construction was begun 15 months ago, and Albemarle FCS projects that the new building will be fully operational within two weeks. The new, 8,900-ft2 facility will feature a new 400-ft2 control room and data center and a new 2000-ft2 quality control laboratory.
The new laboratory will contain ample space for the integration of existing equipment, including inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for elemental metal impurity analysis, and will facilitate ongoing expansion of analytical capabilities at the site in support of the rapidly growing RSM business there. Relocating control room and data center operations to the remote, hardened location will enhance overall reliability and optimize the site from a safety and environmental standpoint. In addition, operations will be supported by a new 6,500-ft2 office complex.
Relocating the quality control operations to the newly constructed building will free up approximately 1,500 square feet of space to allow expansion of the existing R&D laboratory. This will allow for ongoing upgrades to the overall infrastructure, as well as specific equipment and capabilities. Critically, some of this open space will be allocated for the construction of a new kilo lab, which will facilitate the production of early-stage RSMs at scales intermediate between what is possible at the existing R&D laboratory and the pilot plant and will enhance on-site scale-up and development services.
Albemarle Corporation is a leading global developer, manufacturer, and marketer of highly engineered specialty chemicals for consumer electronics, petroleum refining, utilities, packaging, construction, automotive/transportation, pharmaceuticals, crop protection, food-safety and custom chemistry services. Albemarle’s Fine Chemistry Services (FCS) division is an innovative, full-service provider of fine chemicals to the world’s leading companies across the pharmaceutical, agrichemical, and specialty materials markets.