CDMO Rentschler Biopharma began its expansion project to grow its U.S. footprint and establish a Center of Excellence in North America by placing a single-use bioreactor into the 93,000 square foot facility in Milford, MA that the company bought from Shire earlier this year.
The XDR-500 bioreactor, with a working volume of 100-500 L and downstream process capabilities of 2-8 g/L, is part of a GMP facility suite concept where the system, planned to be client-ready in mid-2020, is currently being prepared for technology transfer. The Milford site is already taking on new projects, including complex and difficult-to-manufacture proteins, e.g., multispecific antibodies, according to Rentschler.
Further expansion planning includes another building for large-scale manufacturing, which will also be for single-use bioreactor processing as well as lab capacity for new modalities. Both, in Europe and the U.S., Rentschler Biopharma will be able to leverage its client-centric approach and expertise in advanced technologies to facilitate the “robust and scalable production of complex biomolecules,” says Jesús Zurdo, PhD, senior vp innovation and venture partnerships, Rentschler Biopharma.