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Renaissance Lakewood, LLC (“Renaissance”), a leading pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), today announced the official opening of their new, 67,000 sq ft, expansive warehouse at their recently opened headquarters at 1215 Paco Way in Lakewood, NJ.
The structure, at 81,000 sq ft, will increase Renaissance’s GMP warehouse square footage as well as serve as the primary client engagement and administrative hub for the company. The office space portion of the building opened earlier this spring.
“The completion of our new warehouse operation marks the culmination of many years of planning for and investing in our facilities,” Serge Maltais, President & CEO of Renaissance, said. “This significant increase in capacity together with our implementation of smart, efficiency-focused technology, enables us to provide our customers with a comprehensive, customized experience.”
For more than 20 years, Renaissance has been among the preeminent leaders in nasal and sterile dosage forms through the successful development and commercialization of these products for US and global markets.
The multi-million-dollar expansion and facilities upgrade of their now 370,000 sf main campus footprint in Ocean County, NJ, began in 2020 and consists of two new buildings (1215 & 1220 Paco Way, Lakewood, NJ) as well as the renovation of their 177,000 sq ft manufacturing building at 1200 Paco Way. Investment in cutting-edge technology and equipment is also part of the modernized manufacturing structure.
As part of their manufacturing upgrades, Renaissance completed the installation and qualification of a new high-speed nasal spray assembly line capable of assembling and packaging unit-dose and bi-dose nasal spray devices with increased speed.
“Our integrated assembly and packaging line incorporates innovative and patented automation and inspection technologies that have been transformational in our operations,” Jeffrey Higginson, Vice-President of Operations, said. “These novel approaches to manufacturing have led to improved efficiency, product quality, and an overall unparalleled level of capacity which demonstrate our commitment to maintaining our industry leading position.”
In addition to this new line, Renaissance continues to operate multiple filling, assembly, and packing lines that offer customers redundancy as well as the ability to scale products from pre-clinical through commercial scale manufacturing.
At 1220 Paco Way, the new 31,000 sq ft structure houses a state-of-the-art, Quality Control Spray/Particulate Laboratory as well as both the Analytical and Formulation Research and Development Laboratories.
Renaissance increased the Quality Control (QC) Spray laboratory by nearly three times its former size. In addition, a separate controlled non-classified area was constructed with its own gowning room to aid in a cleaner environment to test particulate samples for release.
The now fully operational laboratory complex also includes upgrades to existing equipment and complete replacements of older equipment to facilitate sensitive sterility tests for products manufactured aseptically at the site.
In addition to the QC lab space, Renaissance moved the Analytical Research & Development (AR&D) area to share GMP analytical equipment for most, if not all, AR&D tests. Lastly, Formulation Research & Development moved to this area in a separate non-GMP area of the building. Previously, this lab was combined with AR&D.
“We are very excited to meet the testing needs of our clients now and in the future,” Kimberly Ernst, Vice President, Product Development and Laboratory Services, said. “These new laboratory spaces provide us with the capability to have a significant impact on product and research development. We are confident these new spaces will exceed our clients’ expectations, and we look forward to expanding our reach in the global marketplace.”
At 1215 Paco Way, the Warehouse team members, led by Al Atkinson, VP of Supply Chain and Commercial Services, have all received hours of hands-on training to operate the technologically advanced machinery now deployed in the new space.
“This is a truly exciting time to be part of the Renaissance family”, Atkinson said. “We have dedicated employees who are committed to embracing the cutting-edge equipment and processes we’ve put in place allowing us to advance our optimal supply chain model on behalf of our customers.”
The temperature-controlled, 32 ft clear facility will serve as the primary warehouse location for the company which also has supply chain operations at 1200 Paco Way.
Safety and efficiency improvements in the facility are enhanced by the machinery used to move materials throughout the expansive space. The turret-type forklifts feature wire guidance and floor positioning tags to help control speed and movement within the space. These specialized forklifts feature a warehouse positioning system that will lead the equipment to the required picking location with the touch of a screen.
In addition, a pallet shuttle system facilitates high density storage allowing efficient usage of the warehouse cubic footprint. The warehouse mobility scanning system features QR coded rack labels which enable staff to quickly pinpoint material locations and track inventory with a 75 percent reduction in manual data entry.
“We have spent nearly half a decade upgrading our facilities and capabilities in order to meet the world-wide demand for our broad range of services,” Maltais said. “Every single upgrade and investment have been made with one purpose in mind, to ensure a first-class experience for our customers and provide a safe and compliant operating environment so that patients can receive life-saving and life-changing medications.”
