BOSTON – Skanska announced that it has been awarded a $125 million contract from CONTINUUS Pharmaceuticals, an innovator in transforming the production of small-molecule pharmaceuticals with its proprietary Integrated Continuous Manufacturing (ICM) technology, to complete a new cGMP Manufacturing Facility in Woburn, MA.
Construction activities are underway, and the project is on schedule for completion in the second quarter of 2023.
When completed, the facility will play a vital role in mitigating hospital and pharmacy shortages of critical drugs. CONTINUUS’ ICM technology reduces drug production time from months or even years to just a few days. The unique approach also enables manufacturing of multiple drugs in quick succession with lines that can be easily transported between locations, which the company refers to as “MoP” (Mobile Pharmaceuticals) – further addressing longstanding supply chain problems in pharmaceutical production.
“We are proud to announce this agreement with Skanska to build the first-of-its-kind, cGMP, end-to-end continuous manufacturing facility in the USA. The project is very complex, as this facility will house API, oral solid dosage, and sterile injectable manufacturing in the same building,” said Salvatore Mascia, Founder and CEO of CONTINUUS Pharmaceuticals. “We selected an industry leader in Skanska to work with us as we transform the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry.”
When completed, CONTINUUS will use the space to produce both dry active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and finished drug products (DP) in both sterile injectable and tablet forms. The facility is being developed to produce three critical care medicines and one additional key drug with flexibility for future growth.
“This past year has underscored the importance of investing in our health and in science. Consistent with our mission of Building What Matters, we are proud to provide CONTINUUS with the manufacturing space it needs to produce high-quality drugs that treat critically ill patients in a timelier and more cost-efficient manner,” said Bryan Northrop, Executive Vice President/General Manager of Skanska’s building operations in Boston.
Applying its extensive expertise in life sciences construction, Skanska is building the CONTINUUS’ facility in an existing 50,000 square foot shell space, facilitating extensive renovations to the building, including a new, two-story, approximately 50,000 square foot addition with a third-floor penthouse.
Skanska will also construct a new utility structure featuring extensive supporting equipment, as well as a new dunnage system to support a modular air handling unit penthouse. Features of the facility’s functional area include just-in-time warehousing, sampling, weighing, API synthesis spaces, OSD product and aseptic fill-finish spaces, inspection, terminal sterilization, utility generation, and support spaces. The site will also include onsite parking for employees and visitors, two loading docks for shipping/receiving, a tank farm and supporting utility equipment, waste tanks, and solvent lockers.
Skanska has worked with numerous leading pharmaceutical companies throughout its history. The company is this year celebrating its 75th anniversary in the New England Region, where it has built and restored the region’s landmarks, from Gillette Stadium and the Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research to the Longfellow Bridge. Skanska continues to leverage its local knowledge and global expertise to shape the region’s institutional, commercial, healthcare, and life science facilities, as well as to enhance and expand essential transportation and energy infrastructure.
