Life Science Washington’s Member Spotlight series highlights the innovations, impact, and future vision of our member companies in the life sciences industry. Through curated questions, we explore their origins, breakthrough technologies, local presence, and industry leadership. This initiative showcases their contributions and strengthens connections within the life sciences community. If your organization is a member and would like to be highlighted in a future spotlight, please contact Kaitlyn Campitiello, Director of Marketing and Communications.
Tell us your origin story. How did Just-Evotec Biologics come to be, and what inspired its creation?
Just Biotherapeutics was founded in 2014 by a team of biotech pioneers determined to breakthrough the scientific and economic barriers in developing and manufacturing protein therapeutics – barriers that put life-changing drugs out of reach for most of the world.
When Amgen announced the closure of its Washington state R&D and manufacturing operations, it created an unprecedented opportunity for Just to work with talented local scientists and engineers, many of whom were well known in the industry. Backed by a combination of equity financing and technology grants from ARCH Venture Partners, Merck, LAV, and the Gates Foundation, the Just team set up in Fremont-based Icogenex to build J.DESIGN, the company’s fully integrated AI-driven technology platform. Today, Just – Evotec Biologics operates as a CDMO and wholly owned subsidiary to Evotec SE. With two Greater Seattle sites, the team is leveraging its expertise and platforms to advance partner molecules from discovery through clinical stages to commercial launch.
How has the J.POD Redmond facility changed the game? What makes this facility unique in terms of its design and capabilities?
J.POD – Redmond is a small, sustainable, highly flexible and efficient advanced biomanufacturing facility, constructed at a fraction of the time and cost of traditional plants. Within its relatively small footprint (130,000 sq ft), J.POD supports seamless transitions from early-phase clinical trials to late-stage through commercial, utilizing intensified continuous manufacturing processes. To increase mass demands, if needed, unlike traditional methods that often require facility and equipment changes during scale-up, J.POD technology relies on running the same process for longer durations streamlining the path to regulatory approval and reducing risk.
J.POD matches the output of traditional 10,000–30,000 L stainless‑steel fed‑batch bioreactors using 500–2,000 L single‑use bioreactors that reliably produce 4–5 g/L/day, supporting 15–25‑day continuous runs. The small facility and intensified processes sharply reduce water use, and energy consumption aligning with high ESG standards.
What are the key challenges you face in biologics manufacturing, and how does Just-Evotec Biologics address them?
The industry faces well-known challenges – high R&D costs, scaling challenges, supply chain vulnerabilities, and talent shortages – all amplified by economic and geopolitical trends. Just is addressing these issues by applying innovative approaches, like continuous processing, AI, single-use systems, automation to reduce the materials and cost of goods and associated risk involved with the development and manufacture of biologic drugs.
We collaborate closely with industry consortia, vendors, and partners to drive innovation and efficiency. To help develop and attract top talent, Just invests in regional academic programs and actively supports STEM outreach in local high schools. Just, along with industry partners, work with Life Science Washington to advocate for policies supporting the long-term health of both patients and the life sciences industry.
The Just team is focused on innovation, quality, and high productivity to ensure that these potentially life-saving therapeutics reach more patients faster and more affordably.
How does Just-Evotec Biologics support biotech companies in bringing their therapies from early discovery to commercial production?
The explosion of unique targets and molecule designs enabled by scientific breakthroughs and AI-driven drug discovery has created huge opportunities to bring new therapies to patients. However, many of these molecules can’t be manufactured at scale using current biomanufacturing fed-batch technology, where the cells and proteins sit in a closed container and are subject to biological processes that degrade therapeutic proteins before harvest.
Just’s technology overcomes this with a highly productive cell line and continuous manufacturing technology. In our environment, cells are maintained at a constant density and continuously perfused with fresh media, removing waste, and supplying nutrients. Proteins are harvested continuously, preventing degradation. This approach enables molecules that traditionally couldn’t be scaled to thrive, saving therapies that might otherwise be lost – a process we call saving molecules from the “cutting room floor.”
Can you share some of the most impactful partnerships or collaborations you’ve had so far? How have they helped advance your goals?
We’ve been fortunate to cultivate incredible relationships to advance our technology platform and mission, dating back to early work with the Gates Foundation and the US Government. With the DoW and BARDA, we continue to support the creation of emergency supplies of biological drugs, as we did during the COVID pandemic.
We also maintain long-standing relationships with large Pharma, and biosimilar companies such as Sandoz, who aim to bring biological drugs to broader populations at lower costs.
To date, we’ve worked with over 30 partners – including local companies – on over 100 programs across modalities (mAbs, bi-Specifics, fc-Fusion, IgG1, IgG4). It is an honor to collaborate and support our partners’ work bringing life-changing therapeutics to patients.
Where do you see Just-Evotec Biologics in the next 5-10 years? Can you share some of your most exciting upcoming projects or innovations?
We are excited to make our technology available across the globe. Most recently, we’ve completed full end-to-end continuous manufacturing processes for a monoclonal antibody and generated over 30+ Kg in one 1,000 L run. This amount of mass generated in relatively small and cost-efficient facility is catching the attention of the global Biopharmaceutical industry. Of course, our goals are to manufacture commercial drug biotherapeutics to support patients, and we should be arriving at this milestone in the next year. We will continue to invest in cell lines that thrive in a perfusion environment and support the implementation of our manufacturing technology for interested industry partners.
Learn more about Just-Evotec Biologics and stay updated by following their social channels:
- Just-Evotec Biologics Website: https://www.evotec.com/solutions/just-evotec-biologics
- Just-Evotec Biologics Career Site: https://careers.evotec.com/en/search-jobs/Just%20-%20Evotec%20Biologics/Seattle%2C%20WA/
- Just-Evotec Biologics LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/just-inc-/
If your organization is a member of Life Science Washington and would like to be highlighted in a future spotlight, please contact Kaitlyn Campitiello, Director of Marketing and Communications.