ENTERPRISE SPONSOR: Oral Solid Dose

Avara, one of Our Road to CPhI Milano sponsors discuss how they are preparing to face the future of healthcare.

The Mission of the Company

Avara’s mission is to provide world-class outsourcing services to help deliver life-changing and life-saving medicines to the patients who need them. With trusted delivery to a range of geographies within the company’s high standards of quality and regulatory compliance, Avara seeks to provide a flexible, responsive, and client-centric approach to create the optimal solutions to support clients’ needs.

Following a recent reorganization and update to the company’s vision, Avara is primarily focused on organic growth of their existing oral solid dose (OSD) and sterile facilities. While focusing on growing organically, the company is open to potential acquisition of new facilities or capabilities, provided that the acquisition complements or expands on their core capabilities and undergoes a rigorous due diligence assessment. Avara has recently made a number of significant investments to support its OSD and sterile capabilities, including bi/tri-layer tablet compression equipment, a thermal oxidizer, a bottle packaging and cartooning line, high potency product containment, encapsulation, DEA value and control systems, a chilled tablet press, a hot melt system, an upgrade to the fluid bed granulator, robotic case packers and palletizers, and automated vial inspection on its filling line. There is also a key investment underway for a controls upgrade and the procurement of additional equipment in the tablet compression suite at the Aiken, South Carolina, facility which will expand capacity for blending, granulation, compression, coating, tablet printing, and related operations.

As Avara evaluates its growth strategy going forward, they are paying close attention to a range of trends in the pharmaceutical industry, the outsourcing space, and regulatory agency activity. One such trend is a shift in the demand for opioids in the market and the potential to support government contracts to provide controlled pain medications. The company is also closely monitoring changes in demand for lyophilized and small-volume parenteral products to guide the future expansion of capabilities in this space. In that vein, an increase in market demand for pre-filled syringes has Avara eyeing the possibility of adding that capability at their Liscate, Italy, facility. In addition, owing to the depth of OSD experience at Avara’s Aiken facility, they are closely following any shifts in drug status from prescription to over-the-counter to look for business opportunities.