Swiss fine chemicals producer Lonza will more than double its capacity for production of viral gene and virally modified therapeutics with the construction of a new 100,000 square foot facility near Houston, Texas, USA. Lonza said the GMP facility design will further showcase its use of single-use disposable platforms in modular clean-rooms and will include a fully segregated fill/finish suite.

The state-of-the-art multi-purpose facility designed to meet increasing demand is expected to come on stream in the first half of 2017 and will include eight independent cGMP modular cleanrooms for 2,000 L-scale production in single-use bioreactors. Grade-B cleanrooms will also be constructed to continue the manufacture of EMA-regulated cell therapy products.

The company said the site master plan includes expanded process development and quality-control areas, shell space for future additional cleanrooms and land for further potential expansions.

“The clinical landscape for targeted gene therapies continues to grow at a steady rate with new advancements in cancer immunotherapies and cardiovascular disease,” said Andreas Weiler, head of Emerging Technologies for Lonza’s Pharma&Biotech segment.

“This investment will allow Lonza to be well positioned to meet the demands of this growing market and to remain at the forefront of the viral gene therapy industry,” he said,