The collaboration will see Rentschler engage in the process development and manufacture of Genmab’s bispecific antibodies.
Rentschler Biopharma, a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) headquartered in Germany, will bring Genmab’s projects to its newly acquired US facility.
This represents an expansion of the companies’ existing deal, which saw the CDMO manufacture Genmab’s projects out of its Laupheim, Germany, site.
The Massachusetts site that will house Genmab’s developments is set to be expanded by the CDMO, as part of its intention to ‘continuously invest’ to match business growth.
“Our growth will enable us to support our partner at each step of the way as their plans advance and evolve,” said Frank Mathias, CEO of Rentschler Biopharma.
In terms of what will be added to the facility, Rentschler stated that a 500L single-use bioreactor would be operational by mid-2020. With the next steps being to bring in larger-scale single-use bioreactors to be able to manage manufacture from early-stage development to commercial production.
To support the increased capacity at the 93,000-square-foot facility, the CDMO will hire up to an additional 75 staff members and plans to increase the physical size of the space further.