Hosokawa Micron Limited has expanded its contract development and manufacturing operations at Daresbury, increasing its cGMP-grade processing capacity from one suite to three. The expansion takes the site into a larger area within the same building and gives the company room to run multiple processing jobs in parallel for the first time.
Image Credit: Hosokawa Micron Limited
The Daresbury site provides outsourced powder processing, material micronisation, classification and particle design for active pharmaceutical ingredients, excipients and materials for medical devices. It supports formulation development, powder testing, and produces materials to support animal toxicity studies, stability studies, clinical trials through to commercialisation of products for market. The area operates to the regulatory and documentation standards required for cGMP manufacturing. The expanded operation continues to function as a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation (CDMO) within the wider Hosokawa Micron Group.
The decision to expand was driven by sustained demand from cGMP customers, which differs in profile from the company’s chemical and food processing work. cGMP contract processing typically involves lower volumes than other sectors but requires dedicated, compliant facilities and a higher level of process control. Until now, the site has operated from a single processing area, meaning jobs had to be completed sequentially. The move to three suites allows simultaneous processing across separate workstreams.
Each of the new suites has been built to bespoke specifications, with dedicated supplies for nitrogen and compressed air. The fit-out has been carried out from a blank-canvas starting point rather than adapted from existing infrastructure, which – according to the team at Hosokawa Micron Limited – is consistent with the controlled environments required for cGMP-grade work.
Kathryn Hipkins, Technical Operations Director at Hosokawa Micron Limited, said: “cGMP processing demands a level of segregation, traceability and control that you can’t easily replicate alongside other sector work, and that’s why we’ve kept this capability on a separate site. Moving from one suite to three means we can take on parallel projects without compromising on the standards our customers rely on, and it gives us the flexibility to support clients across the full development cycle, from early-stage trials through to repeat commercial production.”
James Moore, Managing Director at Hosokawa Micron Limited, said: “This expansion reflects where we see the UK cGMP market heading and the role we want to play in it. Our contract processing service has always been a way to bring customers into the wider Hosokawa world, whether they need us to handle production for them or they’re working towards bringing capability in-house. Expanding our capacity at Daresbury is a clear signal that we’re committed to that side of the business and to supporting UK cGMP manufacturing for the long term.”
Hosokawa Micron Limited’s broader cGMP contract processing offer covers particle size reduction and micronisation, blending and mixing, granulation, encapsulation and tabletting support, coating and surface modification, high-potency API handling, and pilot through to commercial-scale production. The Daresbury site sits within a network of Hosokawa Micron Group contract processing facilities that includes operations in Augsburg, Cologne, the Netherlands, USA and Japan.
To mark the expansion, Hosokawa Micron Limited is opening the Daresbury site to visitors on Tuesday 7th July 2026. The day is aimed at cGMP manufacturers, formulation and process development teams, procurement leads, and researchers from universities and research institutions.
Attendees will be able to tour the expanded suites, see contract processing equipment in operation, and meet members of the technical team to discuss specific project requirements or development challenges.
Registration is open to industry and academic contacts via the Hosokawa Micron Limited LinkedIn page:
https://www.linkedin.com/events/stepinsidetheinnovationcentre-c7462796504278315008/