GE Healthcare Launches Viral Vector-Based Gene Therapy Manufacturing

GE Healthcare Life Sciences launched KUBio box, a fully integrated, flexible, and adaptable biomanufacturing environment to accelerate the production of viral vector-based gene therapies. The high growth rate for gene therapies and the use of viral vectors in many of the therapies in clinical trials is causing demand to exceed supply of viral vectors, and the new technology will help increase capacity in this area, the company announced in an Oct. 28, 2019 press release.

“Rapidly adding capacity accelerates the development of novel drugs and enhances the availability of personalized medicines,” said Olivier Loeillot, general manager for BioProcess, GE Healthcare Life Sciences, in the press release. “With KUBio box, we are leveraging our expertise in the monoclonal antibody space to provide biomanufacturers with faster and more cost-effective solutions for advancing next-generation therapeutics.”

The first KUBio box on the market was developed in collaboration with Germfree, which manufactures process-ready cleanroom facilities. KUBio box features a Germfree biosafety level 2 (BSL-2) modular bioprocessing environment based on GE Healthcare’s proprietary design and equipped with the FlexFactory single-use biomanufacturing platform, tailored for the production of viral vectors.

KUBio box supports GMP manufacturing scales up to 200 L and is designed to fit into repurposed or retrofitted existing spaces, as well as new facilities. The modular environment allows for future expansion at different production scales and product technologies. 

GE Healthcare Life Sciences launched the first off-the-shelf KUBio modular facility in 2012 for the biomanufacturing of monoclonal antibodies. The KUBio portfolio has expanded to support the production of vaccines and viral vectors. Four KUBio facilities have been deployed globally by Pfizer, Lonza, JHL, and BeiGene for the manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals.

Source: GE Healthcare Life Sciences