Cambrex announced a $120 million investment aimed at expanding active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing capacity in the United States, reinforcing domestic supply chain resilience and supporting the growing peptide therapeutics segment.
The expansion centers on Cambrex’s Charles City, Iowa facility—the nation’s largest independent API manufacturing site—which will boost its large-scale production capacity by 40%, reaching nearly one million liters. The 45-acre site manufactures a wide range of APIs and intermediates, including highly potent compounds and controlled substances.
Thomas Loewald, CEO of Cambrex, highlighted the initiative’s role in strengthening U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturing amid reshoring efforts by public and private partners. “Local API production is vital to supply chain security and resilience,” Loewald said. “We’re seeing strong demand from companies looking to leverage our expanded capacity to ensure reliable domestic sourcing”.
The new investment builds on a series of site expansions over the past five years, including the addition of large-scale and highly potent API capacity in Iowa (2022), advanced facilities in High Point, North Carolina (2023), and peptide manufacturing expansion in Waltham, Massachusetts (2025).