DSM Pharmaceutical Products has just opened its new cGMP facility for biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing in Brisbane, Australia. Built in partnership with Biopharmaceuticals Australia and with cooperation from the government of Queensland and the Commonwealth of Australia, the new facility offers cGMP mammalian cell culture contract manufacturing services ranging from process development to commercial manufacturing. The Brisbane facility reportedly has an output capability of 500 kg and has expansion space available for further capacity utilization. 

“With its flexible design and use of single-use technology, the facility represents the model for the future of biomanufacturing,” Lukas Utiger, president and CEO of DSM Pharmaceutical Products, said in a statement. “It represents an important milestone in the development of Australia-based mammalian cell-based manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals, and extends DSM’s contribution to the global biotechnology market.”

DSM already has contracts for the Brisbane site with DecImmune Therapeutics of Cambridge, MA; Recepta Biopharma in São Paulo, Brazil; and Paranta Biosciences of Melbourne, Australia. Today, they’re adding a new one with Opthea of Melbourne, Australia, a subsidiary of Circadian Technologies that is developing biologic inhibitors of VEGF-C driven angiogenesis, lymphangiogenesis, and vascular leakage for the treatment of ophthalmic diseases.

The contract covers process development and cGMP manufacture by DSM for Opthea’s lead molecule OPT-302 (previously known as VGX-300) initially for the treatment of “wet” (neovascular) age-related macular degeneration. OPT-302 is a soluble form of human VEGFR-3 that can block the activity of both VEGF-C and VEGF-D, which promote blood and lymphatic vessel formation and are involved in the progression of eye diseases. 

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