In a statement, the Big Pharma firm said the facility is its first fully dedicated R&D centre for vaccines, which will work with its two other vaccine sites in Siena, Italy and Rixensart, Belgium.
GSK acquired the Rockville park campus when it bought Human Genome Sciences (HGS) back in 2012 for $3Bn.
Vaccines
The facility will be involved in the development of 12 vaccines in GSK’s portfolio, including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), Group B Streptococcus (GBS), Dengue fever and the Zika virus.
This R&D facility will work on its commercial vaccine programmes in close proximity to the firm’s non-profit research organisation – the Biopreparedness organisation (BPO).
Biopreparedness
Announced in September, the GSK BPO was created following a call for R&D to be more prepared to tackle emerging infectious diseases by the World Health Organisation.
The non-profit will design and develop new vaccines against pathogens which pose a threat to public health, and is actively seeking partnerships with the CDC, NIH and the WHO.
The planned space for the BPO in Rockville includes R&D labs with two pilot plants for biosafety level 2 capable drug substance production, clinical immunology labs and GMP testing facilities.
In a presentation, GSK announced it will have “fully integrated end to end R&D”, with external funding to cover 100% of the running costs.