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News Release

April 21, 2020
Your Contact:
karen.tiano@milliporesigma.com
Phone: +1 978 495 0093


MilliporeSigma Boosts Commercial Viral Vector and Gene Therapy Manufacturing Capacity

  • New, $110 million facility will more than double existing production capacity
  • Supports large-scale commercial manufacturing of viral and gene therapy products

Burlington, Massachusetts, April 21, 2020— MilliporeSigma today announced a second Carlsbad, California-based facility for its BioReliance® viral and gene therapy service offering. The new, $110 million commercial facility is expected to open next year.

“Viral vector manufacturing has transitioned from a niche industry to the cornerstone of the future of biopharmaceuticals,” said Udit Batra, CEO, MilliporeSigma. “Few companies have the scale and quality systems in place for manufacturing commercial viral vector products. Building on our success in helping customers commercialize their gene therapies made possible by viral vectors, our expansion will help innovators produce at a scale that ensures these therapies reach more patients in need.”

MilliporeSigma’s Carlsbad facility manufactures gene therapies for its customers globally. Gene therapy involves the delivery of a genetic payload into patient cells to produce a therapeutic effect such as correction of a mutated gene or retargeting of an immune cell to fight cancer. Diseases such as hemophilia and cancer are being investigated using this technique where a single dose may cure the disease. Viral vectors are often called the most complex therapeutic manufactured today. The gene therapy market, which accounted for $1 billion in 2018, is expected to reach $10 billion by 2026, according to a recent Biotech Forecasts global market analysis and industry forecast.

MilliporeSigma’s new, 140,000-square-foot manufacturing facility will support viral and gene therapy production at the 1000-liter scale using MilliporeSigma’s Mobius® single-use equipment. The site is part of MilliporeSigma’s expanding product and service offering to the viral and gene therapy marketplace. MilliporeSigma has close to three decades of experience in cell and gene therapy, and its Carlsbad site has been involved in the gene therapy area since 1997, near the time that clinical trials for gene therapy began. In the interim, the company manufactured viral vectors for two cell and gene therapy products.

This expansion underscores MilliporeSigma’s continued investment in viral and gene therapies from clinical to commercial scale and marks the second major investment at MilliporeSigma’s Carlsbad facility in recent years. In 2016, the investments resulted in nearly doubling its former production capacity. The upgraded facility grew from 44,000 square feet to 65,000 square feet. Today, the Carlsbad site is home to 16 modular viral bulk manufacturing cleanroom suites with single-use equipment and two fill/finish suites for gene therapy, viral vaccine and immunotherapy products. With the expansion, MilliporeSigma will add 11 suites, bringing the total to 27, used in various steps of manufacturing.

In addition to contract development and manufacturing services for viral vectors, MilliporeSigma also provides seamless manufacturing and testing services at its pharma and biopharma testing sites globally.

MilliporeSigma’s parent company, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, recognizes that cell and gene therapy has resulted in major advancements in medicine. The company supports these therapies under consideration of ethical and legal standards; it has established an independent, external Bioethics Advisory Panel. This panel provides guidance on various topics, including gene editing and stem cells usage, in which its businesses are involved. The company has also defined a clear operational position taking into account scientific and societal issues.

Follow MilliporeSigma on Twitter @MilliporeSigma, on Facebook @MilliporeSigma and on LinkedIn.

About the Life Science Business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

The Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, which operates as MilliporeSigma in the U.S. and Canada, has some 22,000 employees and 59 manufacturing sites worldwide, with a portfolio of more than 300,000 products focused on scientific discovery, biomanufacturing, and testing services.

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, operates across healthcare, life science, and electronics. Around 58,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people’s lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From advancing gene-editing technologies and discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices – the company is everywhere. In 2020, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany generated sales of € 17.5 billion in 66 countries.

The company holds the global rights to the name and trademark “Merck” internationally. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany operate as EMD Serono in healthcare, MilliporeSigma in life science, and EMD Electronics. Since its founding in 1668, scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to the company’s technological and scientific advances. To this day, the founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company. For more information about Merck, KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, visit  www.emdgroup.com.