India-based contract research, development, and manufacturing organization (CRDMO) Syngene International announced it is paying $36.5 million to Emergent Manufacturing Operations Baltimore, a subsidiary of Emergent BioSolutions, to acquire its first biologics site in the U.S.
Syngene’s total investment in the Baltimore facility is projected to be approximately $50 million, including the $36.5 million cost of acquisition and expenses to make the site operational. The facility is equipped with multiple monoclonal antibody (mAb) production lines and will expand the CRDMO’s total single-use bioreactor capacity to 50,000L for large molecule discovery, development, and manufacturing services.
Emergent, which last year shut down the site in a corporate restructuring, has the option of securing manufacturing capacity from the facility in the future, according to the terms of the deal. In 2022, a congressional report revealed that hundreds of millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccines were destroyed due to quality problems at Emergent’s Baltimore plant.
The acquisition, which is expected to close this month with the site available for client projects in the second half of 2025, will provide Syngene customers with “continuity of supply from its four development and manufacturing facilities located in India and North America, offering services ranging from cell line development, process optimization and both clinical and commercial supply,” according to the announcement.
Alex Del Priore, Syngene senior vice president for development and manufacturing services, said in a statement that the acquisition is a significant milestone for the Indian CRDMO “and comes in response to growing client demand in the United States, the fastest-growing biologics market,” while providing additional options to its international customers with “commercial-scale biologics manufacturing capabilities across our global network.”
Syngene expects the Baltimore site, which is “strategically located” near key biotech hubs in the Northeast, will see demand from American mAb developers who need direct access for “onshore” production, as well as companies in other countries that require U.S.-based manufacturing options.
The Indian CRDMO sector stands to benefit from outsourcing and recent geopolitical dynamics, with the potential to grow from an industry currently valued at $3 billion to $3.5 billion to between $22 billion to $25 billion by 2035. That’s the finding of a February 2025 report from the Boston Consulting Group and the Innovative Pharmaceutical Services Organization (IPSO), a new consortium of 11 India-based CRDMOs including Syngene.
“With global customers diversifying supply chains from China and seeking value driven outsourcing, geopolitics and geoeconomics provide strong tailwinds for India’s CRDMO industry,” Peter Bains, Syngene’s CEO-designate, wrote in the foreword to the report. “To stay competitive, Indian CRDMOs must advance up the value and innovation curve, positioning themselves as leaders in new modalities rather than settling for a supporting role.”