The new facility at Castel Romano Technopole offers ‘maximum flexibility’ in processing scale, able to accommodate GMP productions based on adenovirus (Ad), adeno-associated virus (AAV) and lentivirus starting from 50 liters up to a maximum of 3,000 liters.
An investment of around €15m ($14.5m) has been made in the new production facility, which now covers an area of 1500 sqm. Work began in May 2020 and the company has installed bioreactors with scaled volume capacities of 200, 1,000 and 2,000 liters.
The facility will cater for ReiThera’s client base: which ranges from small biotechs to multinational pharmaceutical groups.
Stefano Collaca, chief technology officer and ReiThera co-founder, says the facility has been designed to meet growing global demand for viral vector production.
"Thanks to the operational authorization of this expanded facility, the ReiThera team, which combines high-level scientific knowledge with extensive experience in the engineering and bioprocessing of viral vectors, will be able to support companies engaged in the development of products in the field of vaccines and advanced therapies, from the fine-tuning of small-scale production processes to production on a commercial scale," he said.
ReiThera's headquarters, R&D laboratories and GMP facilities are all located in Rome, Italy. As well as offering services including process development and GMP production of viral vectors and analytical activities (including immunological characterization of biological therapeutics), the company has developed genetic vaccines against major infectious diseases, including hepatitis C, malaria, HIV, Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Ebola and Covid 19.