Agilent Technologies will spend $725 million to double its production capacity of therapeutic nucleic acids integral to biological APIs.

The manufacturing expansion is part of the company’s efforts to meet the demand for the therapeutic oligos market currently estimated to be worth about $1 billion and projected to reach $2.4 billion by 2027.

Two new manufacturing lines—called Trains C and D—will be added to the company’s Frederick, Colorado, facility that will feed the drug industry’s appetite for siRNA, antisense and CRISPR guide RNA molecules. Agilent said it expects customer shipments from the expansion to begin in 2026.

The Colorado facility will see a Train C line announced in 2020 go live later this year.

“The investment reflects not only the strong demand for therapeutic oligos, but also for the unmatched quality and service of our therapeutic oligo contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO),” said Mike McMullen, President and CEO, Agilent.

The expansion at the facility will include advanced automation and engineering enhancements including water reduction and solvent capturing and recycling.