New Facility Plans for Growth in ATPM Demand

Biotechnology company Polyplus-transfection®SA (France) is increasing its manufacture of raw materials for ATPM development with the construction of Vectura, a 4,000m2 facility, which is expecting to meet demand from companies in pre-clinical and late-stage clinical development, as well as ongoing increases in R&D. It will also house Polyplus-transfection’s head office and international operations business.

The strategic move will double the headcount both in the company’s manufacturing and development departments and will increase production capacity in manufacture and delivery of transfection solutions globally. This new operations will be supported by an increase in R&D and laboratory space of 300 per cent.

LCR (Les Constructeurs Reunis) is the main construction firm, with support also provided by ADIRA (agence de développement d’Alsace). Vectura was initiated by significant investment from Warburg Pincus and ArchiMed in April 2020 and start of operations is planned for the company’s 20-year anniversary in the third quarter of 2021.

“The gene and cell therapy market continues to grow at a high rate, with more late-stage clinical trials moving towards commercialisation, additionally supported by an increase in earlier stage therapies moving into the clinic. As a supplier of critical strategic materials for the sector, Polyplus-transfection will continue to invest to increase its capabilities and support its global customer base,” said Mario Philips, CEO, Polyplus-transfection. “The COVID pandemic has had considerable global economic as well as health repercussions. In the midst of this, Polyplus secured a substantial growth investment from Warburg Pincus and ArchiMed last year. While Polyplus’ product and services portfolio to support gene and cell therapy development also continues to further broaden, we also initiated the construction of the Vectura facility and we continue to be on target for the opening of this facility for our 20-year anniversary in the summer of 2021. The combination of this year’s achievements mean we remain in prime position to support the maturing gene and cell therapy sector with critical materials, including innovative transfection solutions.”