Construction work on the project is expected to take as much as 18 months and cost $65-$75 million. The unit’s analytical and process development laboratories are expected to be ready for start-up more quickly, with the potential to be operational within six-to-eight months, the company said. The viral vectors are to be used in a range of indications across the fields of oncology, hematological disorders and rare disease.

Together with the potential annual revenue-generating increases associated with the ongoing $55 million expansion of its Myford clinical and commercial facility located adjacent to its headquarters site, Avid said the new investment has the potential to bring total annual revenue-generating capacity to more than $350 million.

The company said its decision to expand its service offering into viral vector development and manufacturing was driven by continued strong growth in the cell and gene therapy market, combined with what it perceives as the CDMO industry’s overall lack of proven, high-quality CGMP manufacturing expertise and capacity for viral vectors.

In addition to CGMP clinical and commercial drug substance manufacturing, Avid's CDMO activities include bulk packaging, release and stability testing and regulatory submissions support. According to the company, its capabilities range from standalone process development to full development and manufacturing. For early-stage programs it provides process development activities that include upstream and downstream development and optimization, analytical methods development, testing and characterization.

CEO Nicholas Green said the expansion into the viral vector space is “a natural extension of our existing traditional biologics offering,” as the CDMO continues to expand its position as a pure biologics player. Many of the unit operations for viral vectors are similar to those it operates in its mammalian cell culture business, he added. 

Avid has hired Drew Brennan as general manager of its new viral vectors business. The executive previously spent more than a decade in senior sales and operations positions at Novasep. As general manager for the Lyon, France-based company’s US subsidiary, he had responsibility for all products including viral vector CDMO services.

In January this year, Thermo-Fischer Scientific acquired Novasep’s Henogen viral vector manufacturing business in Belgium for around €725 million in cash.

Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist