March 19, 2020 -- Biomanufacturing company Univercells announced on March 19 that it has established a contract development and manufacturing organization named Exothera to support cell and gene therapy developers with process development and production of viral vectors.
The new company will help alleviate the two most critical challenges of manufacturing, lack of capacity and bioprocessing expertise, according to Univercells. Exothera will help manufacturers to achieve successful market entry. Univercells will leverage its novel manufacturing platforms and other tools to provide cost-effective viral vector processes that can be implemented in commercial facilities upon customer request.
Exothera provides a holistic approach to deliver rapid, scalable bioproduction processes to help accelerate the delivery of groundbreaking therapies to market. The company will be based in Jumet, Belgium, in a space recently acquired by Univercells and repurposed to accommodate laboratories, cleanrooms, and manufacturing areas that follow good manufacturing practices (GMP) for clinical and commercial production.
The company plans to immediately begin pursuing support opportunities for COVID-19 vaccine innovators by providing expertise in expediting successful vaccine manufacturing programs.