Evotec SE announced the opening of the company’s late-stage clinical and commercial biologics cGMP manufacturing facility (J.POD® 1 US) in Redmond, Washington. The innovative cGMP biomanufacturing facility is the final step in Just – Evotec Biologics’ J.DESIGN platform that integrates data analytics and machine learning through all activities involved with the discovery, development, and manufacture of biologics. This includes design of discovery libraries (J.DISCOVERY™), molecules (J.MD™), processes (JP3®) and the manufacturing facility, J.POD®. The facility employs J.POD® technology that uses autonomous clean rooms to run small, highly intensified production processes, thereby reducing the cost of biologics manufacturing.
Dr Leslie Alexandre, President and CEO of Life Science Washington commented: “Just – Evotec Biologics’ J.POD facility brings new, highly innovative, commercial scale manufacturing capabilities to our industry, with the flexibility to produce small and large quantities of drug substance for biotech companies locally and around the globe. I am thrilled to see the vision of Jim Thomas and his superb team at Just come to fruition here in the greater Puget Sound, bringing much needed additional manufacturing capacity to our region and many new jobs. The J.POD facility will contribute to the commercialization of some of the most important, life-saving products delivered through biotechnology.”
At its two sites in Washington state, Just – Evotec Biologics currently employs more than 250 highly skilled workers, and is expected to grow to approximately 300 by the end of 2021. The first manufacturing runs for a valued partner, the U.S. Department of Defense, are due to be initiated in November 2021.