Almac Group, a contract development and manufacturing organisation, is expanding its North American headquarters (NAHQ) campus in Souderton, Pennsylvania, US.
The NAHQ expansion project will increase the company’s clinical supply capacity by 70% by incorporating capabilities in cold chain operations, just-in-time processing and analytical testing. The capabilities are vital to support the development of advanced therapeutic medicinal products.
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The company is investing $65m in the expansion, which is a part of the $93.5m overall investment in the company’s Pennsylvania operations and facilities.
The ground-breaking ceremony for the facility was held in August 2023, and the topping-out ceremony took place in June 2024.
The first phase of the expansion project was completed in September 2025.
The project is anticipated to create 355 new employment opportunities regionally upon completion of the second phase in 2026.
Location of Almac’s NAHQ campus
The facility is being expanded within Almac’s US headquarters campus situated at 25 Fretz Road, Montgomery County, Souderton.
Almac North American headquarters expansion details
The Souderton facility expansion project involves adding two new buildings to the campus to enhance the company’s clinical supply operations in the area. This will increase the building footprint by 79,000ft² (7,339m²) to 190,634ft² (17,710m²).
The first building serves as the administrative facility, providing workspace over three floors for personnel from Almac Clinical Services, Almac Clinical Technologies, and Central Management.
The second building is a two-storey production and logistics facility that supports Almac Clinical Services activities for material storage, production, and distribution, as well as Almac Sciences’ analytical and stability services.
The new production and logistics facility features a new intermediate distribution frame (IDF) room and communications cabinet to extend power network connectivity to the expansion areas.
Additional security measures, such as intruder detection sensors, closed-circuit TV monitoring activities, and controlled access points, have been installed in the building.
The analytical testing process will be executed at the site for a diverse array of product types, including small molecules, peptides, biologics, conjugates, potent substances and controlled substances.
Almac’s just-in-time manufacturing solution, known as Almac Adapt™, will be implemented at the site. The solution is designed to offer sponsors a distinctive, flexible supply strategy that aims to address the growing complexities of clinical trials effectively.
Phase one expansion details
The phase one expansion of Almac’s NAHQ campus included the addition of a new 15ºC to 25ºC 36,100ft² warehouse with 7,310 pallet spaces and a height of 40ft. The warehouse features narrow aisle pallet racking and wire-guided forklifts to maximise capacity.
A new 5,400ft² ultra-low-temperature mobile freezer corral with a capacity of 76 freezers was also added. The ultra-low temperature freezers can be run across a variety of set points, with -80ºC to -60ºC being the most used range.
Each unit is equipped with duplicate compressor capability and is tracked individually, with alerts managed through a new environmental monitoring system (EMS).
A new 13,850ft² distribution warehouse with 416 pallet equivalents was also developed as part of phase one expansion. It includes areas for finished product storage, order fulfilment processing and dispatch.
The distribution processing area consists of 21 processing workstations, a quality control area, a conveyor system, and a dispatch area.
These changes were enabled by installing new air-handling units and the new EMS, as well as extending existing access control and surveillance systems and the electrical back-up strategy.
The expansion also included several site upgrades, including the addition of a new parking lot.
Phase two expansion details
The ongoing phase two expansion will be developed through the reconfiguration of areas within the existing building. It will include 2ºC to 8ºC storage with 2,000 pallet spaces, 2ºC to 8ºC production with ten additional rooms, -15ºC to -25ºC production with two additional rooms, and a just-in-time manufacturing area.
A reach-in storage unit will also be installed to add capacity for materials stored at -80ºC to -60ºC and -25ºC to -15ºC. The unit will be located within the new 15ºC to 25ºC warehouse.
Sustainability features of Almac’s North American HQ expansion
The new facility is designed and constructed in line with the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), a standard that evaluates the sustainability of buildings.
In its commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2045, Almac’s new construction also adheres to the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification standards, which are aimed at creating healthy, efficient and cost-effective green buildings, as well as reducing carbon emissions.
Additional environmental protections, such as a 140ft pedestrian bridge, will be installed to not only reduce the environmental impact on the expanded campus but also to improve walkability for both workers and visitors.
In the new production and logistics facility, separate instances of the Schneider Electric EcoStruxure system are used to provide both EMS and building management system (BMS) functions.
The facility’s material handling area is certified by the TSA as a Certified Cargo Screening Facility.
Financing details
The company was offered a $1.77m funding proposition by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development via the Pennsylvania First grant and a $250,000 grant by the Workforce and Economic Development Network of Pennsylvania for developing the workforce.
Contractors involved
US-based Cyma Builders & Construction Managers serves as the engineer and construction manager of the new facility.
CRB Group is the architect, and Currie & Brown is the cost consultant for the expansion project.
Barry Isett & Associates is providing the structural and civil engineering services while Genesis Engineers is responsible for engineering, construction management and commissioning services.
Marketing commentary on Almac Group
Headquartered in Northern Ireland, Almac is a private company operating under the ownership of the McClay Foundation, a Northern Ireland-based charitable trust that supports healthcare businesses.
With 7,500 employees, Almac operates in 18 facilities around the world, spread across Europe, North America and Asia.
Almac’s expertise includes a wide spectrum of services within the pharmaceutical sector, research and development, diagnostic services, the manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), the development of formulations and the provision of clinical trial supply and technologies, which extends to full-scale manufacturing and distribution capabilities.
