A word with Cerbios CEO: Overview on company profile, management vision and investments planned

Lugano, Switzerland: – Cerbios-Pharma SA (Cerbios) CEO Christian Suà recently got interviewed on Chemistry Today and he highlighted the core points in the company vision.

A long-standing experience backed by strong values

Cerbios has more than 45 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry and over its journey in the pharma world, it was quick to foresee the importance of offering comprehensive and innovative services for APIs either chemical or biological.

“Our attitudes and behavior are inspired by four values which create our own identity and successfully continue our history: Responsibility, Quality, Reliability and Collaboration. These values have been modernized over the years but were already present in the DNA of the founders and the various generations of shareholders, managers and employees who preceded us and created the company we know today” said Mr. Suà.

Focus on HPAPIs and ADCs

Cerbios has always invested in R&D and manufacturing capabilities and in the last years more and more resources were addressed on the possibility to support customers as CDMO with innovative services for HPAPIs and ADCs.

“In 2021 we completed and got SwissMedic approval for a new HPAPI unit, which allows us to improve our manufacturing capacities up to 30 Kg/batch on different lines for cytotoxic and no-cytotoxic products,” said Mr. Suà adding that Cerbios was now well advanced in construction of a new building, scheduled to become operational early in 2023, that will house two complete HPAPI manufacturing lines, primarily dedicated to ADC payloads and cytotoxic HPAPIs.

Cerbios had also recently opened new laboratories, increasing HPAPIs chemical development R&D capacity by 50% and doubling capabilities for R&D analytical services.

“For our future expansion, we recently bought a neighbouring site. Our intention is to double our ADCs capacities investing in a new hub to expand Cerbios’ commitment to provide best-in-class bioconjugation services for our partners worldwide,” Mr. Suà declared.

Cerbios is also investing in new production capability to underpin its current recognition as a front-runner in providing end-to-end one stop shop services for the development and manufacturing of Antibody Drug Conjugates (ADCs), with all the components (toxin, payloads, mAbs and bioconjugation) produced in a single site.

“Cerbios has consolidated its focus on ADCs as one of its core businesses in its PROVEO division that extends its capacity with the alliance with leading companies as AGC Biologics, for large scale manufacturing of mAbs and Oncotec for fill-finish services. We therefore have the capabilities to serve small to large Pharma Companies and support their programs from very early stage up to commercial scale for each component of an ADC,” Mr. Suà explained.

“The company has two fully independent cGMP manufacturing facilities for cytotoxic and non-cytotoxic bioconjugates. For the toxin and toxin-linker part, we are now expanding our existing capacity with the ongoing construction of a new manufacturing unit which will host two separate manufacturing lines specifically designed for this type of molecules. This unit will include all the state-of-the-art technologies that are necessary for the manufacturing of these more and more complex molecules, from both process and engineering perspectives” he told the magazine.

Bringing it home

Mr. Suà also noted that Cerbios-Pharma was now well positioned to benefit from the overall pharma industry trend towards ‘reshoring’ activities previously outsourced to Asia, as well as increasing industry concern about supply chain security caused by COVID disruption.

“First, let me say that the current situation has not made any impact on our own supply chain in terms of quality and availability,” said Mr. Suà.

He explained that Cerbios had limited its dependence for raw materials on overseas countries and had experienced no major supply difficulties throughout the pandemic.

“On the other side, reshoring represents an opportunity for Cerbios. With our current and future know-how and infrastructure, Cerbios definitively represents a viable alternative for those pharmaceutical companies who want to bring their APIs and strategic services back to EU,” said Mr. Suà.

“In fact, we are experiencing a significant increase in requests even for CDMO activities, including those for early-stage processes where our clients recognize the importance of having a well-established and capable partner based in Switzerland for their short- and long-term programs,” he added.

Keeping an eye on Sustainability

Cerbios is also contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by continually striving to implement greener technologies and processes.

In the interview featured in the latest edition of the online magazine Chimica Oggi (Chemistry Today), Mr. Suà says the company has succeeded in significantly reducing hazardous wastes, for example, by investing in new tanks and processes to collect and separate exhausted solvents with increased recycling. It has also focused on carbon reduction.

“We are currently focusing on two projects: we are both installing approximately 5,000 square meters of photovoltaic panels and recovering passive heat, treating it with a heat pump and reusing it for heating purposes. The combination of these projects leads to a 40 per cent reduction of natural gas used and to a reduction of 600 tonnes per year of CO2 emissions,” said Mr. Suà.

“As an additional benefit, this will also enable us to reduce the risk of business interruption due to energy contingency,” he noted.

About Cerbios-Pharma

Cerbios is a privately held company located in Lugano, Switzerland, specialized in manufacturing Pharma Products and in offering CDMO services.

Cerbios is the ideal CDMO partner from clinical to commercial supply of API, HPAPIs, Payloads, ADCs, Proteins and Antibodies. Services offered include Process & Analytical Development, Scale-up and Clinical Supply, Industrial Validation, Commercial Supply, Full CMC Regulatory Support. Proveo™, a division of Cerbios, was recently created to provide end-to-end development and manufacturing services for ADCs.

Cerbios is also a global leading supplier of a portfolio of Generic APIs primarily used in Oncology and for the treatment of Respiratory and Dermatological disorders. Cerbios has additionally a 40 years’ experience in the probiotics field: the portfolio includes a FDF based on proprietary strain SF68® for treatment of diarrhea and dysbiosis by antibiotics and two new Food Supplements for the management of ACNE & Seborrheic dermatitis and to boost immune response.

Learn more at: https://cerbios.swiss

Resources

Click on Chimica Oggi online: Issue 5/22 to download full article.