CureVac, a Tübingen, Germany-headquartered clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid)-based drug development, has broken ground for an industrial-scale production facility at its headquarters.

The GMP-compliant production facility – called GMP IV – is being designed to produce approximately 30 million doses of RNA-based therapeutics per year and is expected to be fully commissioned in 2019.

GMP IV will have usable floor space of 8,800 square meters. In June 2017, CureVac completed the development of its third in-house suite, GMP III. This suite is designed to operate under a newly developed and patent-protected process optimized for large-scale production. Manufacturing of RNA products in this facility will begin in 2018, according to the company.

Since 2006, CureVac has operated a worldwide GMP-compliant RNA production plant with two multi-product suites – GMP I and GMP II – for large RNA molecules for use in medical applications against cancer, infectious diseases, and other illnesses.

CureVac recently announced in October 2017 that it has partnered with Eli Lilly and Company to develop cancer vaccine products in a deal worth up to $1.7 billion. The companies plan to develop and commercialize up to five potential cancer vaccine products based on CureVac’s proprietary RNActive technology, a tool for the production of vaccines on the basis of mRNA. CureVac’s technology will be used to deliver mRNA that directs the human immune system to target encoded neoantigens.

Source: CureVac