Aenova is investing in a new cold chain warehouse at its sterile site in Latina, Italy. The cutting-edge facility marks a significant milestone in Aenova's commitment to providing end-to-end integrated supply chain solutions for biologics and other temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical products.

The new warehouse, adjacent and fully connected to the existing facility, represents a strategic expansion of Aenova's cold chain infrastructure. Construction began earlier this year, with full operational readiness and regulatory acceptance expected by the first quarter of 2026.

Spanning approximately 6,500 cubic meters, the warehouse offers a total capacity of 1,300 pallet spaces, with an additional area accommodating around 100 pallet spaces dedicated to packing, shipping, and final product preparation.

The facility is designed to maintain a controlled temperature range of 2-8°C, which is continuously monitored and recorded via a SCADA system (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition), ensuring full compliance with current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP).

The warehouse is fully automated, with an integrated digital system for precise location tracking and pallet movement. Goods are transferred between production and storage areas using an Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) system, and all time-of-refrigerator (TOR) data is digitally recorded. To ensure uninterrupted operations, the facility is equipped with two independent refrigeration systems that back each other up, providing robust business continuity.

Additionally, the warehouse incorporates state-of-the-art technologies that enhance energy efficiency and support Aenova's sustainability goals. A dedicated freezer area is also included for the storage of drug substances, further expanding the site's capabilities.

"This expansion significantly enhances our biologics and sterile drug product offering," says Paolo Abbate, Managing Director at the Aenova site in Latina. "By integrating cold chain storage directly into our manufacturing site, we can now offer our customers secure and streamlined logistics; this is a real competitive advantage in terms of speed, reliability, and compliance."

The new facility is designed to support a wide range of cold chain products without requiring special adaptations for specific APIs or countries, making it a versatile solution for global pharmaceutical partners.

This development further strengthens Aenova Latina's position as a premier CDMO partner in sterile manufacturing, offering a comprehensive suite of services from drug substance to finished product all in one place. This is already paving the way for the expansion of the site with an additional fill & finish line for biologics planned for the upcoming years.

2024 has been an eventful and very successful year for Aenova. 2024 has seen a transition in ownership with Kuehne Holding AG becoming its new majority shareholder as well as a reset of the capital structure and resulting lower debt levels. Revenues for FY24 reached EUR 868 million, up 4 per cent compared to the prior year. EBITDA rose again to a record level from EUR 137 m to EUR 162 m, an increase of 18% over the previous year of EUR 25 m.

Aenova has invested a record EUR 86 million (incl. From lease additions) in 2024 to further expand its production and development sites as well as into IT systems.