Pharmaceutical service provider Almac Group has announced an expansion of its North American headquarters in Souderton. Harold Brubaker, in the Philadelphia Business Journal, warmed up to the assignment of reporting its investment in expanded cold-room facilities.

Almac Group, centered in Northern Ireland, aids pharmaceutical manufacturers in conducting clinical trials, a line of business that has surged ever since the outbreak of COVID-19.

To maintain effectiveness, biopharmaceuticals must be kept cold. But Almac — capable of maintaining a  -4⁰ Fahrenheit temperature — had already maximized its physical capacity to meet that benchmark.

The infusion of capital will therefore enable the company to continue to meet worldwide market demands by more than doubling cold-room capacity, from five rooms to 12.

“The growth in biopharmaceuticals, vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, and the like has just exploded, particularly over the last 10 years,” said Mark Rohlfing, an Almac vice president of operations in the clinical supply division. “A lot them are protein-based, so they degrade if you take them out of refrigeration.”

The expansion’s targeted completion date is 2025. With it, an additional 200 Montgomery County jobs are estimated to follow.

Further detail on Almac Group and its growth plans is at the Philadelphia Business Journal.

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A discussion of the cold-storage challenges in the pharmaceutical industry.