WuXi AppTec Opens Commercial-Scale Spray Drying Manufacturing Platform at its Couvet Site in Switzerland

WuXi AppTec inaugurated a PSD-4 spray drying facility at its Couvet, Switzerland drug-product site, enabling amorphous solid dispersion manufacturing to improve the oral bioavailability of poorly soluble compounds. Together with its Taixing site, it forms a China–Europe dual-site supply chain with EU batch release via Munich QP services.

WuXi AppTec, a leading global pharmaceutical CRDMO, announces the opening of a new spray drying facility at its drug product manufacturing site in Couvet, Neuchâtel, Switzerland. The facility houses a PSD-4 spray dryer for manufacturing amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs), a formulation approach that increases the oral bioavailability of poorly water-soluble compounds.

Spray drying at Couvet runs alongside the site's existing downstream operations under one quality system, giving clients access to ASD technology and finished dosage form in one location. Drug products made there can be released for the EU and EEA through WuXi AppTec's Qualified Person and batch release services in Munich, Germany, helping accelerate patient access.

Couvet's PSD-4 also complements the existing spray drying capability at WuXi AppTec's China facilities, allowing spray drying processes to be run both in Europe and in China.

From oral solid dose to spray drying: continued investment in Europe

The spray drying facility continues a program of investment that began when WuXi AppTec acquired the Couvet site in 2021; manufacturing capacity at the site has since doubled. The site has manufactured oral solid dosage forms since 2018 and has been part of WuXi AppTec since its acquisition from Bristol Myers Squibb. It has been inspected by the U.S. FDA, Swissmedic, and Japan's PMDA, and supplies products worldwide. The facility incorporates geothermal energy recovery and on-site photovoltaic generation, and its design received the ISPE Facility of the Year Award for Sustainability in 2019, with ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 certifications.

This is far more than a ribbon-cutting. Couvet is a central pillar in our broader European growth strategy, and this investment reflects our deep commitment to the Val-de-Travers region and our role as a dedicated anchor of the pharmaceutical ecosystem here in Switzerland and across Europe.