Construction of a biologics manufacturing facility commenced on Friday (September 16).
It is being built by Evotec at its Campus Curie in Toulouse, is the second facility of its kind, and the first in Europe.
It will use Just – Evotec Biologics’ flexible J.POD technology to deliver clinical and commercial manufacturing capacity for biologics.
Therapeutic option
Biologics are a highly effective therapeutic option with broad applicability across many indications. However, the traditional fed-batch manufacturing presents significant challenges, especially at the upscaling from clinical to commercial supply.
With a modular continuous manufacturing setup, the J.POD technology allows for highly intensified cGMP manufacturing of biologics at flexibly scalable quantities, thus reducing both scale-up risks and manufacturing costs significantly.
During a ceremony on campus Curie, Jean-Luc Moudenc, president of Toulouse Métropole and Mayor of Toulouse, Jalil Benabdillah, vice-president, economy, employment, innovation and reindustrialization of the Occitania region as well as Étienne Guyot, Prefect of Haute-Garonne and Occitania, joined the management of Evotec and subsidiary company, Just – Evotec Biologics, to break ground for the new facility.
Evotec’s new facility will create high-skill jobs
J.POD Toulouse, France (EU) is expected to be operational in the second half of 2024 and the company says it will create upwards of 150 new high-skilled jobs on Evotec’s Campus Curie in Toulouse.
Craig Johnstone, chief operating officer of Evotec, said: “Today’s groundbreaking for J.POD Toulouse, France (EU), Just – Evotec Biologics’ second facility, marks an important milestone on our path to making biologics globally available.
“J.POD is a disruptive technology that makes biologics manufacturing not only scalable, but even more importantly, available right where they are needed. We are grateful to be able to realise this project with funding from the French government, the Occitanie Region, Bpifrance, the Haute-Garonne prefecture as well as Toulouse Métropole.”
Funding
The construction of J.POD Toulouse, France (EU) benefits from French government funding as part of the programme d’investissements d’avenir and is also supported economically by the Occitanie Region and Toulouse Métropole.
The first facility of this kind, J.POD Redmond, WA (US), was opened in August 2021. The first manufacturing runs for valued partners, one of them being the U.S. Department of Defense, were initiated shortly afterwards.