Piramal Pharma Solutions Expands Peptide API Facility

Editor’s take: The growth of peptides in pharmaceuticals is driven by metabolic and weight-loss drugs, including GLP-1s, as well as treatments for hormone deficiencies. Peptides mimic natural hormones and neurotransmitters to target specific receptors. Produced under strict regulatory guidelines with rigorous sterility, purity, and potency testing, the new suite supports the formulation of challenging molecules including peptides, HPAPIs, and other biomolecules. 

Piramal Pharma Solutions, a global CDMO, has launched a state-of-the-art spray drying suite at its dedicated peptide development and manufacturing facility in Turbhe, India. This strategic expansion aims to address the complex formulation challenges associated with peptides and other complex molecules and support the growing demand for these molecules. 

Benefits of Spray Drying

Spray drying transforms liquid formulations into dry powders in a single step, enabling enhanced bioavailability, precise particle size, and to process sensitive compounds safely. This technique is especially critical for peptides, which are unstable at high temperatures and often require strict control over particle properties. Its gentle and efficient nature is designed to enable drug developers to improve solubility, streamline scale-up, and increase speed, and preserve the molecular integrity of their peptide API.

New Spray Drying Suite Capabilities

The new spray drying suite operates as a closed-loop system, equipped with its own inert gas supply and advanced safety measures, including specialized HVAC, airlocked entries and exits, operator isolation, and a dedicated cleaning area. This enables the safe handling of potent compounds and organic solvents requiring up to Band 5 containment. Also, the processing area maintains ISO Class 8 (Class 100,000) cleanliness standards, ensuring strict control of the environment throughout operations. 

Engineered for small-volume, high potency batches, the unit supports a feed rate of up to 1 liter per hour. It can spray dry highly concentrated solutions — even those with up to 30% water content — making it particularly suitable for the formulation of biomolecules and large peptides. Under optimal conditions, the suite can also be leveraged for low-volume small-molecule formulations.

“Peptides present some of the most intricate formulation challenges in pharmaceutical development, owing to their inherent instability and sensitivity to processing conditions,” said Dr. Jordi Bacardit, Global Technical Lead on Peptides and Member of the Science Collective at PPS. “Spray drying addresses these distinct challenges by allowing tight control over key components like temperature and solvent environment. With the addition of the spray drying suite at Turbhe, we can help our partners bring stable, high quality peptide formulations to patients in need worldwide.”