Swindon & Wiltshire News
Phillips Medisize buys Chippenham site to power inhalation growth
A Wiltshire drug delivery specialist has secured full ownership of its Chippenham facility as it targets substantial growth in inhaled medicines over the next five years.
Phillips Medisize, part of Molex, has acquired the complete footprint of its existing site, strengthening a UK research and manufacturing operation serving pharmaceutical customers worldwide. Together with its Cambridge facility, Chippenham forms the company’s Global Inhalation Center of Excellence.
The investment builds on its 2025 acquisition of Vectura Group, which brought specialist inhalation expertise into a business already designing and manufacturing drug delivery devices. The latest deal gives Phillips Medisize long-term operational control of the Chippenham site and additional capacity to support its expanding pipeline.
Financial terms were not disclosed in the announcement. The company says the acquisition will support formulation development and manufacturing of supplies for early- and late-stage clinical trials, including increasingly complex small-molecule and biologic therapies.
Charlie Schumacher, vice president of inhalation therapies, said the business was outperforming its growth plans following the Vectura acquisition.
“With our inhalation revenue projected to grow substantially over the next five years, securing this full site ensures we have the dedicated talent, laboratories and cleanroom capacity required to support pharmaceutical companies from early-stage feasibility all the way through commercial scale-up,” he said.
“Since the Vectura acquisition, we are tracking ahead of schedule on our growth model and are confident in our trajectory.”
The expansion positions Chippenham to play a bigger role in developing drug-device combinations: treatments that depend on both a pharmaceutical formulation and a delivery system. Its capabilities span dry powder inhalers and nebulisers, alongside powder and liquid formulation, analytical testing and clinical trial supply manufacturing.
The commercial opportunity extends beyond conventional respiratory treatments.
Phillips Medisize says customers are developing therapies for conditions including pulmonary arterial hypertension, as well as non-respiratory diseases, creating demand for specialist development expertise and manufacturing capacity.
Chief inhalation scientist Sandy Munro said the team remained focused on advancing research and bringing more effective inhaled treatments to patients worldwide.
The UK operation also gives customers access to Phillips Medisize’s wider international manufacturing network, helping move products from development towards commercial production.
The group operates 30 locations across North America, Europe and Asia, comprising 23 production facilities and seven research and development innovation centres. It says it has supported more than 200 product launches and 150 drug delivery programmes over the past five years.
