Piramal Pharma Limited's Pharma Solutions business, a leading Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO), has announced a new production block has come online at the company's drug product site in Pithampur, in the state of Madhya Pradesh.

The new production area, known as V Block, can handle batch sizes of 150 to 600 kilograms, augmenting the site's capacity to produce oral solid dosage form drug product. With the addition of V Block, the Pithampur site's total production capacity increases from 3 billion doses to 4.5 billion doses.

V Block includes aqueous and non-aqueous wet granulation (high shear, top spray and bottom spray); direct, mono, and bilayer compression; aqueous and non-aqueous coating; and bottle packaging technologies. Aggregation capabilities related to US FDA e-pedigree and track and trace requirements are planned for V Block, as is the addition of dry granulation capabilities (roller compaction).

Like the other four production blocks on site, V Block has dedicated personnel and material entry with biometric access control for the block and the operating cubicles within it, as well as dedicated air handling unit for each cubicle.

The Pithampur site employs approximately 600 workers and supplies drug product to biotech, small pharma, large pharma, and large generics customers around the world, supporting their needs for both on-patent and generic drug projects.