Drug maker AMRI plans ABQ expansion

$30M investment will create new production line for pre-filled syringes

Medicinal research and manufacturing company AMRI Global is expanding its Albuquerque operations with a $30 million investment in a new production line for pre-filled syringes.

The new capabilities, which could mean more employees at some point in the future, will be added to AMRI’s existing 135,000-square-foot facility at the Midtown Business Park at I-25 and Montgomery. The company, which provides global contract research and manufacturing services to the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, also operates an 80,000-square-foot facility near the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta Park.

The new production line should be fully installed by mid-April, AMRI’s Albuquerque site head and general manager David Lee told local officials and businesspeople at the company’s Midtown installations Thursday afternoon.

“We have a lot of space here with huge potential to grow,” Lee said. “The syringe line adds new capability to our operations.”

The company has operations at 27 locations in North America, Europe and Asia. It currently employs about 300 people in Albuquerque, about 60 of whom were hired in the past year. By adding pre-filled syringe production to its services, AMRI hopes to grow its customer base.

“If the new syringe line brings in new business, we could grow the workforce here,” Lee said.

AMRI, previously called Albany Molecular Research Inc., paid $110 million in 2014 to acquire its Albuquerque facilities from Oso Biopharmaceuticals Manufacturing LLC, a homegrown New Mexico company that itself acquired the injectable-drug operation from previous owner Catalent. Oso Bio’s founders added new capabilities and services before selling the company to AMRI, allowing the local facilities to handle difficult-to-manufacture pharmaceuticals, such as injectable liquids that require extreme care or that are unstable if not rapidly processed.

When Albany Molecular Research bought Oso Bio’s operations, it was a publicly traded company based in New York. But two private equity firms, the Carlyle Group and CTGR LLC, acquired Albany Molecular in September, rebranding it as AMRI Global. The company now employs about 3,100 people worldwide.