The expansion is part of its growth strategy for the Biosolutions division, Wacker said, as – driven by developments in the field of gene therapy – demand for CDMOs offering end-to-end services supplying different components for nucleic acid-based gene therapies has risen sharply in recent years.

Wacker Biotech currently has several fermentation lines with a capacity of up to 650 L fermentation and subsequent downstream processing steps. Now, the company plans to create additional development and production capacities in the field of advanced therapy medicinal products by putting new laboratories into operation. This service ideally complements the nucleic acid expertise of this site, Wacker said.

With the capacity expansion, the company will also transfer know-how from Wacker Biotech's European sites to the San Diego subsidiary.

Philippe Cronet, general manager of Wacker Biotech US, said: “We have strong local expertise in the production of pharmaceutical proteins and benefit from the many years of experience of the global Wacker Biotech Team. Our site is ideally located in one of the most important biotech hubs, allowing us to serve the local and broader USA market but also worldwide.”