MILFORD, Massachusetts, May 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Avecia OligoMedicines announced today the further expansion of its Milford, MA manufacturing facility, dramatically enhancing the company’s capabilities in siRNA and Aptamer manufacturing. The new equipment and facilities will be fully on line by 1 September 2007. The facility upgrade is in three key areas: Cleavage / Deprotection, Chromatography and Duplexation / Conjugation.
The chemistry deployed for RNA cleavage and deprotection is more complex and hazardous than that used for DNA manufacture. Avecia has installed new large scale cleavage deprotection vessels and equipment to enable large scale siRNA manufacture in batch sizes of 75-100mmol.
The facility upgrade includes the addition of two new chromatography skids and associated equipment, enabling High Pressure / High Temperature purification over the scale range from 1-150mmol. This purification equipment will be fully compatible with organic rich solvent streams, which will enable Avecia to extend their offering of downstream processing options to include organic rich IEX (Ion Exchange Chromatography) and RP (Reverse Phase Chromatography).
Avecia has installed new duplexation / annealing vessels to enable controlled siRNA duplexation in batch sizes up to 150mmol. Additionally, large scale conjugation / pegylation capacity has been installed covering the range up to 100mmol.
“Avecia has already achieved siRNA production at 50mmol scale”, said Detlef Rethage, President of Avecia Biotechnology Inc. “This asset expansion will extend further our capability and offering in the key market growth sectors of siRNA and Aptamer based therapeutics.”
Editors Notes
Avecia is a privately owned biotechnology company with recognised leading positions in the manufacture of DNA medicines, Biopharmaceutical process development and biologics manufacturing, and bio-defence vaccines. Based in Milford, MA, the OligoMedicines business is exclusively focused on manufacturing and the provision of GMP services to developers of oligonucleotide medicines.. The Group’s activities in this field date back over ten years; Avecia Milford has a world leading supply position, and an excellent regulatory inspection track record.
For further information contact: Dr Charles J Shields VP, Business Development Avecia Biotechnology Inc 155 Fortune Boulevard Milford MA 01757 Tel : +1-508-532-2500 E-mail : oligomedicines@aveciabiotech.comwww.aveciabiotech.com
Avecia OligoMedicines
CONTACT: For further information contact: Dr Charles J Shields, VP,Business Development, Avecia Biotechnology Inc, 155 Fortune Boulevard,Milford, MA 01757, Tel : +1-508-532-2500, E-mail :oligomedicines@aveciabiotech.com
