VGXI has started designing a gene therapy and DNA vaccine manufacturing facility in Conroe, Texas that it says will be operational in early 2022.

The contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) announced the acquisition of a site at the Deison Technology Park last week, also revealing that it is working with engineering consultancy BE&K on the facility design.

The firm said it expects to start work on the plant in Q3 and predicted that construction will be completed late next year.

Image: iStock/gguy44

VGXI said the facility will house multiple manufacturing trains adding each GMP suite will be capable of producing therapies for clinical trials and commercial supply.

CEO Young Park cited the growth of the DNA vaccine and gene therapy sectors as the driver for the investment.

“Demand for high quality and reliable plasmid manufacturing services has increased dramatically as DNA immunotherapy and gene therapies demonstrate success in clinical studies.

“The established site for our new facility and multi-phase expansion strategy enables VGXI to continue to grow and support the success of our clients’ products as these industries mature,” Park added.

Expansion

The new facility – plans for which were announced in April – is the latest of a string of capacity expansions undertaken by VGXI in recent years.

For example in November 2018 the contractor opened what it called a “flex-scale” GMP production plant for DNA and RNA based vaccines and therapeutics.

And last December the CDMO added an RNA pilot production suite at its facility in Woodlands, Texas.

News about the new facility comes as VGXI works to produce increased supplies of a potential SARS-CoV-2 vaccine Candidate.

In April Inovio Pharmaceuticals asked the CDMO to scale-up manufacturing of a DNA vaccine against COVID-19 after an initial production run provided materials for a Phase I trial.

At the time the firm suggested some production would take place at the new facility.

It told us “We are seeking additional resources to expedite and expand this facility to include dedicated manufacturing capacity for the coronavirus vaccine.”