Bespak has announced the separation of Recipharm’s former Advanced Delivery Systems Business Unit from the Recipharm Group to form a new standalone company—creating a global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) focused on drug-device combination products and drug delivery devices for pulmonary and nasal inhalation.
 
The new Bespak Group consists of three sites and has a broad range of capabilities. Its early-stage laboratory in North Carolina, US has over 20 years of experience in feasibility, analytical and product development services for inhaled and nasal drug products, while its Holmes Chapel, UK site has a history in the scale-up and clinical and commercial supply of pMDIs and nasal drug-device combination products going back to the 1960s.
 
Chris Hirst, formerly President of the Advanced Delivery Systems Business Unit at Recipharm, has been named CEO of the newly formed independent company, which will be headquartered at Holmes Chapel.
 
“The spin-out of three former Recipharm sites, each with a long history in inhaled and nasal drug delivery, creates a new company with a clear vision and a unique offering for customers. The new Bespak will be the trusted innovation partner and sustainability leader in the transition to greener inhalers,” Hirst said.
 
Kåre Schultz, formerly CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, has been appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bespak. Schultz headed Teva from 2017 to 2022 and has also served as Executive Vice President and COO at Novo Nordisk, CEO at Lundbeck, and Chairman of Royal Unibrew, a listed Danish brewery and beverage company.
 
Bespak also announced a significant further investment in manufacturing capacity at its Holmes Chapel site, from which it manufactures a range of pMDIs for global pharmaceutical companies. The next stage of an extensive expansion plan has been implemented to enable the installation of commercial-scale and pilot-scale filling lines for the manufacture of pMDIs using HFA-152a, a propellant with a significantly lower Global Warming Potential (GWP) than currently used propellants. This commitment will enable Bespak to service the increasing demand from customers transitioning their inhaler portfolios to utilize a new generation of greener propellants.
 
This announcement builds on the site’s milestone last year as it became the first CDMO to manufacture a pMDI at a commercial scale with HFO-1234ze, a near-zero GWP propellant.