Pall will equip Exothera’s expanded facilities in Belgium with a suspension-based manufacturing platform of up to 2,000 L to support the CDMO’s viral vector ambitions.

Contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Exothera was launched in March 2020 by Belgium-based bioprocess tech firm Univercells, to offer cell and gene therapy developers process development and viral vector manufacturing.

The firm is expanding its two facilities in Jumet, about 25 km south of Brussels, and has selected bioprocess vendor Pall Corporation to equip the roughly 92,000 square feet of space.

Image: iStock/dk_photos

Pall will establish a suspension-based manufacturing platform of up to 2,000 L, in a deal worth around $7 million. The range of technologies will include Pall’s Allegro STR single-use bioreactors and will allow for the production of a variety of viral vectors for gene therapies and viral vector-based vaccines.

“Compared to other suspension solutions, Pall’s STR bioreactors are well-suited and could be adapted, if needed, to the perfusion mode, allowing higher growth and density of cells,” Exothera COO Christian Borgniet said.

Clive Glover, general manager of Gene Therapy at Pall Corporation, added: “There is a strong pipeline of viral vector-based gene therapies and vaccines and the importance of rapidly realizing industrial-scale production for these vaccines and therapies has been brought into sharp focus by  COVID-19.”

Regular readers will be aware that in April Exothera won a contract to advance development of CyanVac’s manufacturing process for its intranasal COVID-19 vaccine candidate.