Case Study: Asymchem

Asymchem is a global contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) for the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors. The organisation selected Discovery Park, in Kent, as the home of their new European Headquarters, opening state-of-the-art laboratories and a pilot manufacturing site in 2024.

Asymchem is a global contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) for the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors. Founded in 1995 and employing nearly 9000 team members across advanced R&D and manufacturing sites in China, the US, and Europe. Asymchem is driving innovative technologies enabling smarter, greener and cost-effective pharmaceutical manufacturing to support clinical research and commercialisation.

The organisation selected Discovery Park, in Kent, as the home of their new European Headquarters, opening state-of-the-art laboratories and a pilot manufacturing site in 2024.

Opening a new HQ at Discovery Park

Discovery Park has a long history of excellence in pharmaceutical discovery and development, being home to Pfizer since 1954. When Asymchem expanded their global footprint by moving into pilot plant and development laboratories previously owned by Pfizer, they benefitted from advanced facilities and a hugely talented workforce of scientists. Asymchem now employs over 100 team members on-site, three-quarters of which are legacy Pfizer employees.

Asymchem opened at Discovery Park in 2024

Investing in sustainable pharma innovation

100+ employees now based in Kent with more roles anticipated

Investing in sustainable pharma innovation

Asymchem has found Kent to be a great location for their European HQ, providing a supportive research environment, space for growth and access to a talented workforce. The location also provides easy access to London and Europe, with the team running events and attending conferences to connect with clients and communicate their flow chemistry capabilities.

Discovery Park supported Asymchem in establishing their new European headquarters, collaborating closely on reconfiguring laboratory spaces to meet their operational requirements. This included optimising bench space, ensuring compliance with safety and regulatory standards, and relocating equipment to create efficient workflows. Through expert guidance and project management, Discovery Park helped Asymchem adapt their new space to maximise functionality and support their operational objectives. The local team also coordinated Asymchem’s launch event in August 2024, which featured a ribbon cutting by Dr. Hao Hong, Chairman, Founder, and CEO of Asymchem.

The Sandwich location now operates an ‘Innovation Hub’ for small molecule R&D and cGMP manufacturing, with a world-class team of scientists and engineers using data-rich experimentation and cutting-edge technologies to optimise processes. Since opening, the organisation has continued to grow its capabilities with expanded flow chemistry and investment into biotransformation screening.

“This is an exciting milestone for Asymchem to meet growing demand for pharma services and supply. We are continuing a long legacy of manufacturing excellence at Discovery Park, with the location in Kent being ideal for reaching our target markets in Europe. Discovery Park’s specialist facilities also offer us opportunities to expand our service offering to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors.“

— Dr. Hao Hong, Chairman, Founder, and CEO of Asymchem

Inside the innovation

At the Sandwich facility, Asymchem works closely with clients to advance their projects rapidly within a rigorously controlled lab environment. Upon achieving the desired performance and quality benchmarks, the team can deliver customised equipment solutions for seamless implementation at clients’ facilities.

In 2025, the team launched expanded flow chemistry laboratory capabilities, marking the first deployment of Asymchem’s proprietary flow equipment in the Western market. This technology is designed to allow chemical reactions to occur continuously rather than in batches, making manufacturing more efficient and consistent, with a reduced environmental footprint. Alongside flow chemistry, there has been significant investment into High-Throughput Experimentation (HTE) and biotransformation screening, a key differentiator for the company as it allows scientists to quickly and efficiently identify new, more sustainable reaction conditions, to convert a compound into a desired product.

This strategic investment builds on an already solid foundation and the team’s core small molecule process development and manufacturing capabilities.

In its first 18 months the Asymchem Sandwich team has successfully established a strong customer base and delivered many major projects for a range of clients from global pharma companies and European-based biotechs to a US-based sustainable energy company.

This success paves the way for future laboratory and manufacturing expansions at pilot and commercial manufacturing scales. Currently the pilot plant is capable of producing over 300 batches of product per year, from 1 to 150 kilos per batch, but there is room to scale even further with technical additions.

A strong organisational culture is a priority for the growing team. The global workforce provides opportunities for knowledge exchanges around the world, with team members from Sandwich visiting the company’s offices in China for training and collaboration and vice versa. The team benefits from ample social space and amenities onsite, including restaurants, a gym and a community garden.

Professional development and allowing people to grow at Asymchem is a key value for the company. Team members are given opportunities to grow their skills or learn about different processes, through job rotations and short secondments, for example pilot plant team members have spent time working in the High Throughput Experimentation (HTE) lab to upskill and learn about other parts of the organisation. The company has already taken on two apprentices, working in the pilot plant alongside studying engineering.

“Several things set Asymchem Sandwich apart: our people, how we work with our clients and our application of technology across our workflows. The majority of our team comes from a pharmaceutical background, taking novel molecules through development into commercialisation. This extensive experience gives us an unmatched understanding of small molecule development approaches. As a CDMO, we work on a diverse range of projects and apply a broad range of technologies, including High-Throughput Experimentation, while collaborating closely with clients to understand their requirements and deliver what they need, on time, whether that’s in R&D labs or on the pilot manufacturing scale.”

— Dave Henderson, Executive Director and Head of R&D Labs

Growth plans

Asymchem were recently selected for an Innovate UK Sustainable Medicines Manufacturing Innovation programme. This £9.9 million research consortium aims to make the factories of the future more sustainable. Asymchem’s three year research is focused on the development of their next-generation High-Throughput Experimentation platform, delivering autonomous, data-driven, and sustainable solutions for the next generation of medicines.

Looking ahead, there remains a continued focus on expanding technical capabilities, looking to add both R&D and manufacturing services for peptides, oligonucleotides, and other innovative modalities.

“Having headed up the pilot plant since opening, the pace of transformation has been hugely impressive. The Sandwich Pilot Plant is the only manufacturing facility outside of China for Asymchem and our success is testament to the strength of talent based at Discovery Park, along with the team’s dedication to delivering the best possible results for our clients. We’re all focused on future plans and looking forward to expanding our capabilities and facilities even further.”

— Scott Anderson, Executive Director and Head of Pilot Plant

Asymchem is also exploring opportunities to expand their manufacturing facilities at Sandwich, including steps towards adding a small-to-medium-volume commercial API manufacturing operation at the site. The team recently secured a green light from the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to start this journey, marking a huge milestone for the company. This opens the door to expanding both their site footprint and their number of team members, potentially creating dozens of new jobs in Sandwich.

Learn more: https://asymchem.co.uk/

YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AsymchemLabs