What Avara Norman Pharmaceutical Services does

Avara Norman Pharmaceutical Services is a privately held pharmaceutical contract manufacturing organization (CMO) and affiliate of American Industrial Acquisition Corporation (AIAC). It operates four manufacturing facilities acquired from major pharmaceutical companies: Norman, Oklahoma (headquarters, former Astellas), Arecibo, Puerto Rico (former Merck), Liscate, Italy (former Pfizer), and Aiken, South Carolina (former Astellas). The company employs over 700 people globally and produces approximately 2 billion doses per year serving pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients in more than 40 countries.

The company's core service lines are sterile fill-finish (liquid and lyophilized injectable products including terminal sterilization and high containment for potent compounds), oral solid dose manufacturing (clinical and commercial-scale OSD including potent compounds and targeted release formulations, with 1.5 billion doses/year capacity), and integrated packaging (primary/secondary packaging, automated inspection, specialty packaging, and international serialization). Process development and analytical support services span clinical to commercial stages. Facilities carry regulatory approvals across FDA, EMA, PMDA, ANVISA, AIFA, MFDS, DEA, and multiple Ministries of Health, and have manufactured regulated products including Nimbex for AbbVie, Adrenaline for Pfizer, and APIs for Remdesivir during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Avara generates revenue through long-term, direct contract manufacturing agreements with pharmaceutical and biotechnology sponsors, pricing negotiated project-by-project based on volume, complexity, and duration. Go-to-market is enterprise field sales supported by participation in major industry events (CPHI Americas, CPHI Milan, Contract Pharma) and high-profile client entertainment. There are no disclosed external funding rounds and the company is wholly owned within the AIAC industrial group structure.

Name

Avara Norman Pharmaceutical Services

Legal name

Avara Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.

Website

https://avara.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Avara is a privately held pharmaceutical contract manufacturing organization operating four facilities in the US, Puerto Rico, and Italy, providing sterile fill-finish, oral solid dose manufacturing, and integrated packaging services to large pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients across 40+ countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing

NAICS

Pharmaceutical Preparation Manufacturing (325412), Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing (3254)

SIC

Pharmaceutical Preparations (2834)

akta.pro primary industry

Contract Development & Manufacturing for Generics (CDMO/CMO) (HLAIABAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Drug Product Fill-Finish & Aseptic Manufacturing Services (HLAAAKAB), CMC & Pharmaceutical Development (Formulation/Process/Analytical Development) (HLAIALAD)

Keywords

• Pharmaceutical contract manufacturing
• Sterile fill-finish services
• Oral solid dose manufacturing
• Integrated pharmaceutical packaging
• Process development services

Headquarters

HQ city

Norwalk

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Contract Manufacturing Services: Avara generates revenue through contract manufacturing agreements with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Services include sterile fill-finish, oral solid dose manufacturing, and integrated packaging. Revenue is generated through long-term manufacturing contracts and project-based arrangements for clinical and commercial-scale production.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Avara Norman Pharmaceutical Services is a global pharmaceutical contract manufacturing organization (CMO) that provides sterile fill-finish manufacturing, oral solid dose (OSD) manufacturing, integrated packaging, process development, and analytical support services. The company operates facilities in Norman (Oklahoma), Arecibo (Puerto Rico), Liscate (Italy), and Aiken (South Carolina), serving global pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical customers with end-to-end production capabilities.

Product overview

Avara is a pharmaceutical contract manufacturing organization (CMO) offering a unified portfolio of manufacturing and packaging services. The company operates three core service lines: Sterile Fill-Finish (liquid and lyophilized injectable products), Oral Solid Dose (OSD) manufacturing (1.5 billion doses/year capacity), and Integrated Packaging (primary/secondary packaging with serialization). These services are supported by Process Development and Analytical Support capabilities. Avara serves pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients globally from facilities in Norman, Oklahoma (headquarters), Arecibo Puerto Rico, and Liscate Italy, reaching 40+ countries with combined capacity of 2 billion doses per year.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sterile Fill-Finish Manufacturing
• Oral Solid Dose (OSD) Manufacturing
• Integrated Packaging Services
• Process Development Services
• Analytical Support Services

Quantifiable outcome

• 2 Billion Doses a Year capacity
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Aenova Group: European CDMO offering solid and semi-solid dosage forms, sterile manufacturing, and packaging. Directly comparable to Avara in OSD and integrated packaging, with overlapping customer base among European generic and specialty pharma manufacturers.
• Recipharm: European-headquartered CDMO providing sterile fill-finish and oral solid dose manufacturing to pharma and biotech customers. Closely mirrors Avara's OSD plus sterile injectables service mix and reliance on inherited big-pharma facilities, and serves many of the same small-molecule and generic sponsors.
• PCI Pharma Services: Global CDMO specializing in clinical and commercial-scale sterile injectables, oral solid dose, and integrated packaging with serialization. Direct competitor to Avara in the integrated fill-finish-to-packaging service stack targeting similar mid-cap pharma and biotech sponsors.
• Cambrex: CDMO providing API and finished dosage form development and manufacturing, including high-potency capabilities. Comparable to Avara in serving small-molecule innovators with potent-compound and controlled-substance handling needs across multiple geographies.
• Fareva: Privately held European CDMO providing sterile injectable, OSD, and API manufacturing services to pharma and biotech clients. Comparable to Avara in scale, mid-cap private ownership, and combined sterile plus OSD service portfolio.
• Pfizer CentreOne: Contract manufacturing arm of Pfizer offering sterile injectable and oral solid dose services to external customers using inherited manufacturing assets. Highly comparable to Avara's CDMO model of repurposing divested big-pharma capacity for third-party sponsors.
• Catalent: One of the largest global CDMOs offering sterile fill-finish, OSD, and integrated packaging services to pharma and biotech clients. Highly comparable to Avara across both core service lines, target customer base, and business model, though at significantly greater scale and modality breadth.
• Sharp Packaging (Becton Dickinson): Specialty CDMO focused on sterile injectable fill-finish, clinical packaging, and serialization. Direct competitor to Avara's Liscate and Arecibo operations in commercial-scale sterile injectables and integrated packaging for pharma sponsors.

Broad incumbents

• Thermo Fisher Scientific (Patheon): Diversified life-sciences conglomerate with a large pharma services segment (Patheon) providing sterile fill-finish, OSD, and biologics manufacturing. Competes with Avara across most service lines but as part of a much broader portfolio that includes instruments, diagnostics, and biologics.
• Lonza: Global CDMO leader with deep capabilities in biologics, cell and gene therapy, and small-molecule manufacturing. Overlaps with Avara in sterile fill-finish but is a much larger, broadly diversified incumbent that does not focus on the mid-cap small-molecule niche.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/avara-pharmaceutical-services

Compliance11 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Avara Norman Pharmaceutical Services