SK pharmteco Boosts Domestic Peptide Scale-Up with Investment in California Facility

Expansion leverages proprietary chromatography expertise to overcome purification bottlenecks and secure domestic API manufacturing capacity

SK pharmteco, a global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), announced today a $6.1 million investment in its Rancho Cordova facility to expand and equip a new lab and CGMP-Kilo-scale facility for Solid-Phase Peptide Synthesis (SPPS) and purification. This expansion, combined with SK pharmteco’s industry-leading chromatography expertise and existing development and manufacturing capabilities in the United States, positions the company to meet the rising demand for U.S. peptide development and domestic clinical and commercial manufacturing.

"The investment in our California facility represents a key milestone in our strategic growth and demonstrates an unwavering dedication to the domestic biopharma sector,” said Joerg Ahlgrimm, CEO of SK pharmteco. “Peptides are a vital and rapidly advancing therapeutic category. This project highlights our ongoing commitment to furthering their development and manufacturing.”

“We are expanding our capacity to meet the increasing demand for high-quality, secure U.S. manufacturing, with this investment and others to come,” Ahlgrimm said. “While many companies are now committing to expanding capacity in the U.S., CDMOs like SK pharmteco remain a vital part of the supply chain, both now and in the future. Our stronger network accelerates the journey from discovery to commercial production, boosting the resilience of domestic manufacturing to deliver essential medicines more quickly to patients.”

This new funding signifies a strategic expansion of SPPS at both lab and kilo scales, including the essential purification step, providing a complete pathway for fast and reliable peptide process development in the U.S. It also complements SK pharmteco’s $260 million investment in a new small molecule and peptide production facility in South Korea, announced last year.

While initial SPPS is generally accessible, the industry's challenge lies in the unpredictable processes needed to efficiently convert complex molecules into high-purity, large-volume batches, often causing bottlenecks and supply delays – an issue this integrated capacity aims to resolve.

The lab is scheduled to come online in January 2026, and the kilo-scale facility in the second half of 2026.

About SK pharmteco

SK pharmteco is a global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) with production sites, research & development facilities, and analytical laboratories across the U.S., Europe, and South Korea. The company partners with biopharmaceutical companies of all sizes to manufacture Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) and intermediates, cell and gene therapy technologies, registered starting materials, and analytical services for the biopharmaceutical industry worldwide. SK pharmteco is a subsidiary of SK Inc. (KRX: 034730) (SK), the strategic investment company for SK Group, South Korea’s second-largest conglomerate.

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