Frontida BioPharm, Inc.
A One Stop Drug Product Manufacturing and Packaging Partner

Frontida BioPharma Inc. is a minority owned, contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) based in the Philadelphia and Chicago areas. The company’s core vision in developing drug products prioritizes a made-to-order approach with high quality practices and quick turnaround time. Whether an orphan indication or a high-volume drug product, Frontida stands steadfast behind its clients’ endeavors, helping them shorten the time between concept and approved marketable drug products. Its services cover early-stage drug development, clinical trial materials and development, commercial manufacturing and packaging (blister, bottle, and stick pack filling), all the way through market release. “Frontida is the Greek word for caring, and from the beginning, caring for our clients’ needs has been the cornucopia of our services,” says Ulrike (Uli) Foley, VP of Business Development, of the company. “Working with Frontida eliminates the need to contract with several other service providers for drug product manufacturing. From concept through commercial manufacturing and packaging, all services are offered under one roof.”

The company’s 325,000+ sq. ft. manufacturing facilities located in Philadelphia, PA, and Aurora, IL, are used to manufacture up to three billion tablets and capsules annually. Frontida supports pharmaceutical companies in the development, scale-up, and commercial manufacturing of immediate and controlled-release oral solid dose, powder, and liquid products—ensuring robust product performance and on-time supply of clinical trial materials and commercial products. The facilities are operated by tenured specialists who have more than a decade of experience. “We conduct quality control (QC) tests on raw materials and finished products,” says Renard Jackson, EVP, CMO Operations, Frontida.

Frontida provides commercial packaging services for bottles, blisters and stick pack filling. Its world-class commercial packaging lines provide 100 percent serialization. For local clients, Frontida also offers distribution services using dedicated trucks.

The company has a well-defined engagement strategy that aims to nullify any chance of unwelcome surprises at any stage of a project. The leadership at the company holds the discussion with prospective clients to understand project requirements from the specialty, technical, time, and cost perspectives. It ensures the proposal is designed with clients’ unique needs in mind.

Frontida’s responsive business strategy was on full display when COVID-19 hit the market hard. Worries around cost and resource utilization became the biggest concerns for all of its clients. Aware of the situation, they developed business continuity plans aimed at keeping its associates safe while maintaining operations. Frontida implemented a plan to maintain productions on an extended schedule despite the fears of the pandemic. The company has created two separate crews quarantined from each other in order to stop the spread of infection and continue production. In addition, Frontida extended its packaging capability to include blisters, so clients need not approach different packaging partners to get their products to market. This will save time and cost for its clients in a big way.

Further, the company has implemented new technology in the assembly and packaging of COVID-19 test kits.

In the near future, Frontida aims to expand its production prowess to semi-solid creams and ointments and sterile injectable solutions. It also plans to employ new technology in tablet compression and capsule filling. The company has acquired a new fluid bed that allows the timely production of immediate-release and extended release products.