Nashville-based CDMO nets a $65M Series B to expand facility and capabilities
Another $65 million is music to the ears of the team at August Bioservices, a contract manufacturer in Nashville.
The company announced the Series B round last week, which will fund equipment in a new building expected to open in 2023, according to CEO Jenn Adams. It was led by Oak HC/FT, the same firm that led August’s Series A round in July 2020.
Jenn AdamsAugust Bioservices, a producer of materials such as prefilled syringes, IV bags and vials, was formed back in 2020 after the acquisition of PMI BioPharma Solutions, also based in Nashville. Adams said the goal was to build a business that could “address the scarcity of supply relative to sterile injectable manufacturing based in the US” and provide a broad range of manufacturing services.
The initial capital that came along with the acquisition was used to renovate August’s facility and plan for the construction of another building. Construction is now underway, and August ordered equipment for the first filling suite a year and a half ago. That suite and the new building are expected to open in 2023.
After much analysis over the last six months, August pursued the Series B for an additional filling suite that can accommodate a “high-speed, high-volume liquid vial filling line,” and can also automate its downstream processes, according to Adams. August is finalizing the plans to procure equipment and anticipates that production will start in that suite in early 2025.
Adams added that August has plans to grow its headcount. The company currently has around 120 employees and plans to bring on more by the end of the year, eventually reaching 250 by 2026.
As August is in a period of growth, Adams noted that its team and expertise set it apart from the pack.
She said:
Sterile injectable manufacturing … just the nature of it is complex. And the equipment and facilities requirements are specific, and I think, sometimes an underrecognized requirement of sterile injectable manufacturing is the technical expertise of the team. So, we’ve focused a lot of attention and made significant investments and it’s not just the number of incremental jobs that we’re creating, but it’s the technical expertise of the employees that we’re hiring. We view that as a differentiator for us.
