Björkborns Industriområde 
SE-691 85 Karlskoga
Sweden
Tel: +46 586 78 30 00
Fax: +46 586 78 30 09

CURRENT OPENINGS

Cambrex Karlskoga AB is one of four (4) Cambrex facilities which supports the pharmaceutical industry by providing premium drug substance development and manufacturing services.

Cambrex Karlskoga’s available technology platforms are based upon a wide variety of organic chemistry reactions.  and concentrates on developing processes and supplying products to pharmaceutical companies.
 
Our services include:

Route Selection – Designing and demonstration of scalable synthetic routes for safe, efficient, and economical commercial processes.

Process Development – Optimizing existing processes with focus on balancing time, quality and cost.

Analytical Development – Supporting our customers’ drug applications and preparing the CMC submission package of INDs and NDAs.

Cambrex Karlskoga specializes in cGMP high energy reactions and our core technologies include hydrogenations, nitric acid oxidations, chiral synthesis and large scale enzymatic transformations.

We primarily produce cGMP active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and pharmaceutical intermediates. We currently provide approximately 20 products the the overall Cambrex proprietary products portfolio. We also do custom manufacturing, which can be manufactured in quantities from one metric ton to 1,500 metric tons per year.

Cambrex Karlskoga’s heritage dates back to the business that Alfred Nobel established and built up in Björkborn at the end of the 1800's. At that time, the business was primarily engaged in producing explosives. Operations centered on nitric acid, and nitration was the technological key to making explosives and powder.

After the First World War the company began manufacturing chemicals for non-military applications. During the Second World War the company began manufacturing pharmaceutical chemicals. The first active pharmaceutical ingredient was produced in 1941. From 1954 to 1980, finished pharmaceuticals were manufactured at Björkborn. The synthesis routes were founded on classical chemistry and were adapted to suit conditions specific to Björkborn.

In the 1960's, an efficient continuous oxidation technology was developed and transformed the business into a world-leading position. One logical consequence of this was further refining by means of catalytic reduction with hydrogen gas and the production of acid chlorides and raw materials for X-ray contrast preparations.

Throughout the 70's and 80's the company continued to develop international working partners in the pharmaceutical industry.

In the 1980's the company joined forces with Kema Nobel to form Nobel Industries. In 1990, Nobel Industries was divided into two sections, with the military part of the business being taken over by Celsius and the remaining operations being transferred to Akzo Nobel.

In 1994, Cambrex Corporation acquired the civil business from Akzo Nobel and changed the subsidiary name from Nobel Chemicals AB to Cambrex Karlskoga AB.