Novasep, a Lyon, France-headquartered contract manufacturing organization, has invested EUR 27 million ($29 million) to build a commercial-scale manufacturing plant for viral vector-based therapeutics at the company’s site in Seneffe, Belgium. The new plant is scheduled to be operational in early 2019.

The 2,000-square-meter plant will have two cGMP suites equipped with a set of single-use bioreactors ranging from 200 liters up to 2,000 liters and will be used for Phase III and commercial-stage production. It will complement Novasep’s existing lab-scale suites in the neighboring site in Gosselies, Belgium.

Novasep attributed the investment to growing interest in the viral vector therapeutic approach and a maturing clinical pipeline. Viral vector-based therapeutics involve using a virus’ ability to introduce genetic material into a host cell to deliver modified genetic material to repair the host cell. They are used in gene therapy or immunotherapy for cancer treatment and vaccines. Viral vectors include lentiviruses, adenoviruses, and adeno-associated viruses.

Source: Novasep