New Cleanroom Facility Built at ADC Bio

A new cleanroom facility, designed and built by WHP, is a key part of ADC Bio’s construction of a new bioconjugation facility at its site in Deeside, North Wales, United Kingdom for the commercial production of antibody drug conjugates (ADCs). ADCs are a class of emerging biotherapeutics that require a bespoke infrastructure to ensure strict compliance with the highest global regulatory standards. The new facility, which includes support areas for washing, depyrogenation, thawing, and buffer preparation, is a stringently controlled environment operated under cGMP regulations.

WHP, a multi-disciplinary engineering company, was awarded the £5-million (approximately US$6.3 million) contract in December 2017. WHP’s scope of work covered the design and build, including test and validation of a state-of-the-art containment manufacturing cleanroom within an existing 6500-m² high tech facility, along with new quality control and process development laboratories. 

Computer aided design work encompassed cleanroom architecture, mechanical and electrical components, and process and critical utilities systems. Complex, zoned heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems maintain segregation, cleanliness, air pressures, and other environmental controls, in compliance with regulations.

A key feature of the project was the installation of a bespoke, low-maintenance toxic waste system, developed by WHP to remove cleanroom waste to a holding tank, where it is transported to an off-site incinerator. This system incorporates dry break couplers to seal off both ends of the pipeline to prevent the possibility of any onsite contamination. 

“The new cleanroom meets ADC Bio’s need to expand operations at Deeside beyond R&D to include safe, secure, and highly efficient manufacturing capabilities,” said WHP’s project manager, Chris Douglas, in a July 15, 2019 press release.

Source: WHP Engineering