ElevateBio, which currently has a 14,000 ft2 “BaseCamp” in Massachusetts, hopes to expand its capacity locally and on new sites within the next couple of years.
“We’re talking to partners regionally in the United States and outside the country,” explains Mike Paglia, COO at ElevateBio. “We’re opportunistically looking at expanding our existing capacity, and we are able to do that very rapidly. Building from the ground up, however, will take some time.”
The company says it offers space in its facility to likeminded advanced therapy companies who want to benefit from their laboratories and the experience of their staff.
“Often companies have to constantly build process development and innovation teams, and then transfer out to manufacture,” says Paglia. “We got tired of doing this again and again, with our own companies, and we realized the technologies we were developing were valuable in the industry.”
The existing BaseCamp is currently split 50/50 between ElevateBio’s own products and those of their clients. Paglia says they hope to increase their focus onto their client offering, but don’t describe themselves as a contract manufacturer.
“We work through contracts, but we’re not just taking on contract business to fill capacity,” he tells GEN. “[Companies we contract with] need to have a vision and be someone where we can add value through our processes and know-how.”
As well as offering process development and manufacturing facilities in a single facility, Paglia explains that they offer access to “un-gettable talent,” including a CMC regulatory team. In addition, he notes that they’re working to offer new technologies for gene and cell therapies. These include a genome editing platform, LifeEDIT, and induced pluripotent stem cell (IPSC) development, as well as AI and machine learning.
“We’re looking at where we’re going as an industry,” he continues. “And making sure that we always have differentiating technology.”
Paglia adds that the company was able to start in Massachusetts because of the available biotech talent, including at the Harvard School of Medicine and MIT. “I wouldn’t say it’s Boston alone, but it’s one of the epicenters in terms of innovation,” he says.